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George  Washington  Flowers 
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COLONEL  FLOWERS 


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JOHN  HENRY  CAM  MACK- 1 843- 1920 


Personal  Recollections 

OF 

Private  John  Henry  Cammack 

A  Soldier  of  the  Confederacy 
1861-1865 


Written  at  the  urgent  request  of  his  family  and  friends, 
during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  and  published  that 
the  story  may  be  read  by  those  who  knew  and 
honored  him. 


To  which  is  added  press  notices  and  other  papers  con- 
taining final  tribute  to  his  memory. 


PARAGON  PTS.  S  PUB.  CO.,  HUNTIN6T0N,  W.  »A. 


So  live  that  when  thy  summons  comes  to  join 
The  innumerable  caravan,  that  moves, 
To  that  mysterious  realm,  where  each  shall  take 
His  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death, 
Thou  go  not,  like  the  quarry-slave  at  night, 
Scourged  to  his  dungeon,  but,  sustained  and  soothed 
By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  thy  grave, 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams. 

— Bryant. 


KtSK 


INTRODUCTORY 


The  task  of  gathering  up  the  scattered  threads  of 
John  Henry  Cammack's  war  experiences  has  been  as 
arduous  as  it  was  pleasant. 

All  through  the  years  of  his  middle  life,  when 
friends  would  be  present,  particularly  old  comrades, 
stories  of  the  war  were  one  of  the  great  means  of  en- 
tertainment. To  his  family  certain  of  these  stories 
grew  very  dear.  They  were  told  and  retold.  His  large 
fund  of  innate  humor  threw  around  the  whole  of  the 
bitter  war  story  a  sort  of  glamour  which  took  away  the 
harshness  of  the  actual  incidents  and  at  times  made  the 
whole  thrilling  experience  seem  to  the  children  who 
heard  the  stories  to  be  only  a  matter  of  holiday  sport. 

It  was  this  fine  sense  of  humor  that  stayed  with  him 
to  his  last  day;  which  smoothed  over  the  rough  places, 
and  lent  radiance  to  the  war  stories  that  were  told  in 
the  family  circle. 

Ten  years  ago  members  of  the  family  and  friends 
began  urging  him  to  write  out  his  personal  story  of 
the  war.  He  demurred  because  he  thought  it  would 
seem  egotistic,  then  he  claimed  that  he  was  a  poor 
writer,  that  the  events  had  happened  so  long  ago  that 
he  could  not  recall  them  and  that  nobody  would  be 
interested  in  the  affair  anyway.  But,  after  repeated 
urging,  he  began  making  his  notations. 

These  were  written  under  widely  varied  circum- 
stances and  it  is  a  great  wonder  that  there  is  any 
coherence  to  the  narrative.     Some  notes  were  prepared 


on  the  front  porch  at  home,  some  on  trains,  some  at 
hotels  in  Florida,  others  on  long  trips,  others  at  the 
office.  Despite  this  wide  variety  the  story  as  told  is 
regular,  consistent,  coherent,  chronological  and  lacks 
very  little  in  giving  exact  dates  and  names,  although 
most  of  the  writing  was  done  nearly  a  half  century 
after  the  events  transpired. 

It  had  been  the  firm  intent  of  members  of  the 
family  to  get  hold  of  these  notes  and  publish  them  in 
pamphlet  form  while  the  writer  was  still  living,  but 
the  long  severe  illness  which  culminated  in  his  death 
May  6th,  rendered  this  impossible. 

It  is  a  plain  and  simple  and  straight-forward  story 
of  the  Civil  war  from  the  standpoint  of  a  private  soldier. 
It  has  an  intense  personal  interest  from  this  very  fact. 
The  majority  of  histories  are  written  from  the  view- 
point of  the  General,  while  this  is  the  story  of  the  fight- 
ing man  from  beginning  to  end,  inspired  only  by  loyalty 
to  his  State  and  a  firm  conviction  that  he  was  fighting 
for  principle. 

No  apology  is  given  for  the  publication,  because 
it  is  intended  as  a  simple  monument  that  will  endure 
as  long  as  a  shaft  of  granite.  It  will  circulate,  naturally, 
only  among  the  members  of  the  family  and  those  com- 
rades and  friends  who  loved  the  man  who  wrote. 

— His  Sons. 


MY  EXPERIENCES  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 


Though  a  mere  boy  I  was  an  active  participant  in 
the  stirring  scenes  of  1861  to  1865. 

Naturally  in  the  years  before  the  war  and  as  my 
family  grew  up  the  tales  of  the  war  were  told  and  re- 
told. Friends  and  comrades  would  sit  around  the  fire 
side  and  we  would  fight  again  the  battles  of  the  Civil 
War  and  the  most  of  the  instances  became  a  part  of 
our  family  history.  I  was  repeatedly  urged  to  make 
notations  of  my  experiences  during  the  war  so  that  my 
children  and  grand  children  might  have  them  in  a  more 
permanent  form  than  mere  memory. 

I  am  not  a  writer  and  never  had  many  advantages 
of  the  schools,  but,  after  repeated  solicitation,  and  hav- 
ing retired  somewhat  from  active  business,  I  have  de- 
cided to  set  down  in  order,  purely  from  memory,  my 
part  in  the  Civil  War. 

I  have  read  many  histories  of  the  war.  They  cover 
a  wide  scope  and  go  deeply  into  the  philosophy  of 
human  events,  but  have  been  written  mostly  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  General  who  directed  or  of  the  his- 
torian who  collected  facts  and  arranged  them  for  public 
use. 

As  to  the  cause  of  the  war,  I  have  little  to  say.  I 
was  a  Virginian  as  were  my  people,  and  when  my  state 
went  to  war,  I  saw  no  other  course  open  but  to  follow 
the  fortunes  of  the  old  Dominion.     After  fifty  years 


6  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

and  a  full  survey  of  the  events  that  have  transpired 
I  am  led  to  believe  that  if  the  alternative  were  presented 
again,  I  should  perhaps  take  the  same  course. 

Ancestors 

My  father  John  C.  Cammack  was  born  December 
23,  1814,  in  Spottsylvania  County,  Virginia.  His 
father  William  Cammack  was  a  Scotchman  but  was  bom 
in  America  of  Scottish  parentage.  His  mother  Cather- 
ine Cammack,  was  of  English  decent,  a  Miss  Overton. 
Her  father  had  kept  what  was  known  as  the  "Yellow 
Tavern"  near  Richmond,  Virginia.  It  was  at  this  point 
that  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart  was  killed  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  Civil  War. 

My  mother  Margaret  A.  Cammack  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  Gibbs,  she  was  born  at  Winchester,  Vir- 
ginia, December  17,  1820.  Her  father  was  from  Done- 
gal, Ireland. 

My  Grandfather  Gibbs  was  educated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburg  but  when  22  years  of  age,  came  to 
this  country  and  went  into  business  in  Philadelphia, 
soon  after  marrying  my  grandmother. 

I  was  born  on  a  farm  near  the  town  of  Dayton  in 
Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  December  22,  1843. 
There  were  eight  sons  and  two  daughters  in  the  family, 
two  of  the  boys  died  in  infancy.  At  the  time  these 
memoirs  were  begun,  the  rest  of  the  children  were  liv- 
ing except  my  brother  Lucius,  who  was  mortally  wound- 
ed August  9,  1862,  in  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain. 
Since  that  time  my  brother  Algernon,  who  was  for  many 
years  a  great  sufferer,  has  died. 


PRIVATE  JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK 


We  Were  Farmers 

My  father  was  a  farmer,  then  a  stage  driver  and 
later  an  agent  of  a  large  Stage  Line  purchasing  supplies 
for  the  company.  In  1859  it  seems  that  he  had  bought 
supplies  for  the  company  and  they  were  charged  to  him. 
The  company  failed  anc^  he  had  to  pay  as  far  as  he 
was  able.  In  the  late  fall  of  that  year,  we  set  out  from 
Amherst  County,  Virginia,  and  moved  to  Harrison 
County,  and  went  to  farming  again. 

Rumblings  of  War 

About  the  middle  of  the  year  1860,  the  rumblings 
of  the  CIVIL  WAR  began  to  be  heard.  Almost  all  the 
country  people  were  readers  of  the  newspapers  and  they 
were  right  plentifully  scattered  among  the  people  all 
over  the  County.  In  the  stores,  post  offices,  blacksmith 
shops,  shoe  shops  and  wherever  men  and  boys  would 
congregate  to  hear  the  news  and  discuss  questions  at 
issue  they  were  found.  In  the  community,  where  I 
lived  Union  and  Non-LTnion  sentiment  was  nearly  equal- 
ly divided.  At  every  school  house  there  were  debating 
societies  formed,  these  societies  taking  up  nearly  all  the 
live  issues  of  the  day.  Sometimes  these  meetings  and 
discussions  made  angry  blood  and  often  it  was  that  boys 
and  sometimes  men,  were  engaged  in  disputes  and  even 
fights. 

Excitement  ran  very  high  all  over  our  part  of  the 
state  in  the  fall  of  1860,  when  there  were  three  tickets 
in  the  field  for  President — the  Republicans  with  Mr. 
Lincoln  for  President.     In  Virginia  only  a  few  people 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


could  by  any  stretch  of  the  imagination  be  expected 
to  vote  for  Mr.  Lincoln. 

I  remember  after  the  election,  when  it  was  said, 
that  two  men  down  about  Lumberport,  voted  for  Lin- 
coln. There  was  a  great  surprise  expressed  that  any 
man  on  the  soil  of  Virginia  would  dare  vote  the  Black 
Republican  Ticket. 

A  Personal  Encounter 

On  the  day  of  the  election  I  went  down  to  the 
village  about  sunset,  a  little  curious  to  see  the  crowd 
and  hear  the  noises.  I  was  there  but  a  short  time,  had 
purchased  a  half  gallon,  open  can  of  tar.  Soon  after 
leaving  the  village  I  was  overtaken  by  about  twelve 
young  men  of  the  neighborhood  above  me  and  I 
thought  they  all  appeared  to  be  under  the  influence  of 
drink.  They  were  headed  by  a  young  man  by  the  name 
of  Ratcliffe,  who  was  riding  a  very  fine  mare.  He  rode 
up  along  side  me  and  almost  at  once  proposed  to  trade 
horses.  I  was  riding  a  very  good  horse,  but  a  farm 
horse  and  not  near  so  valuable  as  his.  I  told  him  I 
did  not  wish  to  trade  but,  he  insisted  on  me  making  a 
statement,  finally  I  told  him  I  would  trade  even.  This 
angered  him  greatly  and  he  swore  if  I  did  not  go  back — 
if  I  continued  on  that  road  a  quarter  of  a  mile  he  would 
kill  me.     He  then  went  on  and  joined  his  companions. 

I  confess  that  I  was  afraid  of  coming  to  harm  if 
I  followed  that  road  home,  but  I  knew  of  no  other  way 
home,  so  I  risked  it.  A  short  distance  from  there  I 
found  them  in  line  across  the  road.  I  rode  over  a  low 
bank  and  got  in  a  pig  path  down  by  the  fence  and 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK 


attempted  to  pass  their  line,  which  was  formed  en- 
tirely across  the  roadway.  Seeing  what  I  was  trying 
to  do,  Ratcliffe  spurred  his  mare  down  the  bank  and 
caught  my  horse's  bridle,  swearing  that  he  would  kill 
me  now.  I  thought  he  was  arranging  to  usQ  a  knife 
on  me  and  I  drew  back  the  can  of  tar,  all  the  weapon 
I  had,  and  was  about  to  strike  him  in  the  face  with  it, 
when  to  my  surprise  one  of  the  young  men  spurred 
out  of  the  crowd  and  rushing  down,  broke  Ratcliffe 
loose  from  my  bridle  and  took  me  by  the  arm,  rode 
with  me  out  into  the  road  in  front  of  the  crowd.  "Now" 
said  he,  "I  have  witnessed  your  actions  towards  this 
young  man,  we  can  whip  all  of  you  together"  I  have 
always  felt  very  grateful  to  that  young  man  for  rescu- 
ing me.  I  have  also,  always  been  glad  the  crowd  did  not 
insist  on  seeing  if  we  two  could  whip  them  all.  I  was 
doubtful  about  it  then  and  have  been  so  since,  although 
I've  been  told,  my  friend  was  a  champion  fighter. 

The  more  I  thought  about  it,  the  more  angry  I 
felt  at  Ratcliffe  and  so  I  persuaded  father,  about  a 
week  after  that,  to  let  me  go  up  to  Ratcliffe 's  tannery 
to  buy  some  leather.  After  buying  the  leather  and 
seeing  that  the  fellow  did  not  recognize  me,  I  invited 
him  to  walk  down  the  road  with  me.  He  seemed  sur- 
prised, but  came  with  me.  When  we  had  gotten  out 
of  sight  of  the  house  I  hitched  my  horse  and  told  him 
I  intended  to  give  him  a  big  thrashing.  Then  I  told  him 
why.  If  I  had  been  looking  for  an  apology  and  writing 
it  up  for  him,  I  couldn't  have  made  it  any  more  lowly 
than  he  did. 

The  fact  is  he  had  been  drunk  on  election  day. 


10  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

Inflammatory  Speeches 

Excitement  ran  riot,  not  only  in  our  own  com- 
munity, but  throughout  all  Virginia  and  in  the  South. 

The  public  men  of  both  sections  were  heard  and 
their  speeches  read  with  eagerness.  There  were  giants 
in  Congress  at  that  time  and  everyone  of  them  had  his 
quiver  full  of  speeches,  many  of  them  so  full  of  angry 
and  reckless  charges  and  wild  and  unbrotherly  threats 
that  the  people  generally  were  much  more  excited  and 
angry  after  1861  came  in  than  they  had  been  before. 

There  were  a  great  many  men  on  both  sides  of 
Mason  and  Dixons  line  not  then  in  Congress,  who  were 
gifted  with  the  power  to  move  the  people  with  fiery 
speech  and  a  large  number  of  the^,  instead  of  trying 
to  allay  the  excitement  of  the  crowds  that  gathered  to 
hear  them,  seemed  determined  to  increase  their  lack  of 
self  control. 

One  of  our  neighbors  Avas  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Abraham  Smith.  He  was  at  that  time  seventy  years 
old,  a  strong  Southerner  from  the  valley  of  Virginia, 
a  man  of  ungovernable  temper,  and  it  is  needless  to  say 
a  strong  partisan.  This  man  had  two  sets  of  children, 
six  boys  and  a  girl  composed  the  last  set.  The  girl 
was  regarded  as  a  great  beauty  and  had  graduated  in 
one  of  the  best  colleges  in  Virginia.  She  married  Dr. 
Mat  Blair,  who  was  afterwards  Surgeon  of  the  20th 
Virginia  Cavalry.  Their  marriage  was  not  a  happy  one, 
owing  largely  to  the  fact  tliat  Blair  was  a  very  dissi- 
pated man.     Kate,  his  wife,  died  soon  after  the  war. 

I  have  mentioned  Mr.  Smith  here  because  it  was 
largely  through  him  that  I  liad  access  to  the  papers  of 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  11 

that  time,  and  the  discussion  had  at  his  house  almost 
daily  filled  me  with  interest  and  enthusiasm. 

I  was  sixteen  years  old  in  December  of  that  year, 
two  of  the  Smith  boys,  John  and  Dan,  were  older  than 
I.  Ed  was  about  my  age,  Dan  and  I  were  almost  in- 
seperable. 

John  S.  Carlisle,  a  member  of  Congress,  who  lived 
in  Clarksburg,  was  a  really  strong  man,  a  fine  speaker 
and  a  politican.  He  was  known  to  be  a  staunch  Union 
man.  He  was  elected  to  the  Virginia  convention,  some- 
times called  the  "Secession  Convention".  The  North 
Western  part  of  the  State  sent  a  large  majority  of  men 
to  that  Convention  who  were  largely  in  favor  of  re- 
maining in  the  Union.  I  say  largelj^  in  favor  of  re- 
maining in  the  Union,  I  mean  by  that,  that  at  this  time 
scarcely  two  men  out  of  a  dozen  were  in  favor  of  leav- 
ing the  Union. 

There  were  some  notable  cases  of  vain  talk.  A 
certain  magistrate,  who  was  a  rich  farmer  and  a  fine 
looking  fellow  seemed  very  anxious  for  a  fight.  He 
wanted  "War !  War !  Red  War !  Afterwards  when  a 
very  fine  opportunity  came  for  him  to  occupy  himself 
as  a  soldier,  he  refused  and  went  away  over  into  the 
mountains  and  never  fired  a  shot  during  the  war. 

Oil  Excitement 

About  January  1st,  1861  there  was  great  excite- 
ment about  oil  being  found  at  Burning  Springs,  in 
Wirt  County.  My  brother  Lucius  S.  Cammack  soon 
went  to  that  place  and  entered  into  a  Company  made 
up  of  men  from  our  neighborhood,  to  bore  for  oil.     My 


12  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

brother  was  employed  as  "Augerman".  I  might  re- 
mark here  that  this  well  when  oil  was  actually  found, 
in  the  middle  of  this  same  year,  was  next  to  the  largest 
well  ever  struck  at  that  place,  yielding  many  hundreds 
of  barrels  per  day,  but  Alas  and  Alack!  only  a  few  of 
the  original  owners  ever  received  a  penny  for  the  out- 
put of  oil.  It  happened  that  nearly  all  the  owners  came 
back  and  went  to  the  Southern  Army,  as  my  brother 
did,  and  a  very  unscrupulous  fellow,  by  buUdosing  and 
deceiving  most  of  the  people  who  owned  the  stock  bought 
the  stock  and  run  the  well  for  himself,  out  of  which  he 
was  said  to  have  made  a  great  many  thousands  of  dol- 
lars. My  father,  during  most  of  the  war,  kept  up  the 
assessments  which  he  made  with  great  regularity, 
although  the  well  was  said  to  be  yielding  a  vast  amount 
of  oil.  In  the  last  part  of  1864  the  owner  demanded 
of  my  father  to  pay  him  an  assessment  of  $525.00  under 
pain  of  the  property  being  confiscated.  Not  being  able 
to  paj'  the  money,  he  finally  agreed  with  the  man  to 
sell  the  interest  my  brother  had  owned  for  $125.00,  the 
amount,  I  believe,  being  paid  in  the  shape  of  a  horse. 
This  man  during  the  war  that  was  coming  on  then,  got 
a  great  reputation  for  himself  for  loyalty,  he  being 
Captain  of  the  Home  Guards  of  that  part  of  the  country. 
The  excitement  over  the  situation  in  the  different 
states  in  the  South  and  in  tlie  North  as  well,  was  of  the 
sort  that  has  never  been  equalled  in  this  country.  In 
the  border  states  especially,  Maryland,  Virginia  and 
Kentucky,  much  bitterness  prevailed.  Very  often  it  was 
that  father  and  sons  of  the  same  family  differed  in 
political   opinions  to  the  extent  sometimes  of  making 


i 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  13 

bitter  enemies  of  those  who  were  a  little  while  ago  of 
one  family  and  one  blood. 

The  "Dred  Scott  Decision""  "States  Rights"  "Se- 
cession" filled  the  newspapers  every  day  and  every 
week.  Argument  and  discussion  of  these  and  kindred 
questions  took  up  nearly  all  the  time  of  the  people,  and 
this  condition  of  things  was  common  to  every  neighbor- 
hood and  to  all  classes  of  citizens. 

These  discussions  were  not  always  in  a  friendly 
spirit.  I  remember  that  two  men  in  the  village  near 
where  I  lived,  were  having  an  argument  as  to  slavery. 
Mr.  Monroe  favored  slavery  and  the  other  did  not,  in 
the  heat  of  argument  the  other  called  Monroe  a  liar. 
They  were  both  large  men,  but  Monroe  seemed  the 
strongest  and  was  very  angry,  he  rushed  up  to  his 
antagonist  and  grasped  him  by  the  chin  whiskers  and 
the  nose,  opened  the  mans  mouth  and  spit  down  his 
throat. 

Not  far  from  May  1st,  Governor  Letcher,  sent  Col. 
Porterfield  to  occupy  Grafton.  This  being  the  end  of 
a  railroad  division  and  having  a  large  number  of  men 
in  the  shops  as  well,  Porterfield  found  himself  unable 
to  hold  his  position  owing  to  the  great  number  against 
him. 

Meeting  to  Decide 

It  happened  that  about  this  time  we  held  a  meet- 
ing of  Southern  people  at  Romine's  Mill  to  decide 
whether  we  would  volunteer  and  offer  our  ser\aces  to 
the  government. 


14  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

Although  the  Virginia  Convention  had  passed  the 
ordinance  of  secession  it  had  not  as  yet  been  voted  on 
by  all  the  people. 

A  beautiful  day  dawned  on  us  as  we  gathered  on 
the  green  at  the  school  house  at  Romines  Mills.  John 
Hoffman,  a  lawyer,  and  afterwards  a  Brigadier  General 
in  our  army,  was  there  and  made  us  a  speech.  He  read 
several  extracts  from  Horace  Greeley's  paper,  which  was 
not  calculated  to  mollify  us  very  much.  We  also  had 
two  or  three  drums  and  fifes.  Several  enthusiastic  war 
speeches  were  made,  interspersed  with  the  inspiring 
drum.  During  one  of  these  musical  moments  a  young 
lady  came  riding  by  on  a  very  spirited  horse.  The 
animal  seemed  not  used  to  such  music  and  pranced  and 
plunged  very  much  and  had  not  the  young  lady  been 
en  excellent  rider,  she  would  certainly  have  been  thrown 
from  the  horse.  Finally  she  dismounted,  about  the  time 
the  musicians  became  aware  of  the  mischief  they  were 
doing.  This  young  lady  was  Miss  M.  J.  Fox,  I  did 
not  know  her  at  that  time,  but  I  met  her  once  in  1863 
while  on  a  scout  in  West  Virginia  and  we  were  married 
in  October,  1866. 

I  must  put  down  one  thing  that  Col.  Hoffman  said 
that  day:  "Gentlemen,  I  am  a  volunteer.  I  am  going 
with  you.  The  trouble  with  me  is  that  I  am  afraid  I 
can't  fight.  I'm  afraid  I  will  run.  I  hope  you  will 
help  me  along  and  overlook  my  faults".  As  a  matter 
of  fact  if  John  Hoffman  was  not  the  bravest,  he  was 
about  the  bravest  man  I  ever  saw. 

My  brother  L.  S.  Cammack  and  I  volunteered  that 
day  in  the  service  of  Virginia.     We  expected  to  be  or- 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY    CAMMACK  15 


"ganized  iu  a  company  with  Maj.  Armsby,  as  our  Cap- 
tain. Maj.  Armsby  was  a  neighbor,  right  popular  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  knew  something  of  military 
affairs. 

When  we  went  home  that  evening  and  reported  that 
we  had  volunteered,  father  and  mother  were  greatly 
worried,  especially  about  my  going,  only  sixteen  years 
and  four  months  old.  Well,  they  thought  it  over  and 
finally  mother  said  she  would  rather  we  went  both  to- 
gether than  one  alone,  so  finally  to  my  great  joy  it  was 
understood  that  when  the  company  marched  away,  I 
would  be  with  them. 

Three  days  later  on  the  18th  of  May,  a  horseman 
came  rushing  up  the  pike  from  Clarksburg  and  reported 
that  an  order  had  come  from  Col.  Porterfield  at  Grafton 
for  all  the  reinforcements  that  could  be  had — that  the 
enemy  were  about  to  destroy  his  small  force. 

Another  messenger  had  been  sent  to  West  Milford, 
where  we  had  some  men.  There  was  not  time  to  or- 
ganize another  company  and  we  went  down  to  Clarks- 
burg that  evening  with  18  men  and  boys  and  met  the 
Milford  Contingent  and  went  into  the  Clarksburg  Com- 
pany under  the  command  of  Capt.  U.  M.  Turner,  W.  P. 
Cooper,  First  Lieut.,  Noval  Lewis  Second  Lieut.  Maj. 
Armsby,  was  afterwards  made  a  Lieut,  in  our  Companj' 
at  Philippi. 

Enlisted  at  Clarksburg 

We  were  quartered  and  there  during  the  night.  I 
was  at  the  home  of  Judge  Lee.     There  were  two  com- 


16  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

panies  of  Union  men  and  one  company  of  Confederates 
in  Clarksburg. 

The  next  morning  the  Clarksburg  men  under  Capt. 
Turner  paraded  in  front  of  the  principal  hotel  prepara- 
tory to  marching  to  Grafton. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  things  that  I  have 
ever  known  of  occured  there.  The  Union  Companies 
came  around,  most  of  them  willing  to  talk  and  such 
expressions  as  these  could  be  heard:  "Well  Tom,  you're 
going  South  I  see.  Well,  goodbye,  I  guess  the  next  time 
I  see  you  will  be  in  battle."  "So  long,  you'll  catch  the 
devil  when  we  do  get  to  fighting,  alright,  all  right." 
Neither  side  kept  their  guns  the  night  before.  By  agree- 
ment the  arms  were  locked  up  in  the  county  jail. 

Many  of  the  men  shook  hands  with  their  foes  and 
sometimes  there  were  kindly  expressions  of  good  bye. 

Fifty  years  is  a  long  period  of  time,  looking  back 
across  the  intervening  years.  I  think  there  are  only 
a  few  of  the  people  that  I  knew  then  that  are  alive  now, 
of  the  few  that  are,  I  know  the  whereabouts  of  only 
one  here  and  there.  Of  the  nearly  one  hundred,  who 
left  Clarksburg  with  us  that  morning  in  the  long  ago. 
there  is  but  about  a  dozen  of  them  on  the  earth  today. 
Some  were  killed  in  battle,  some  died  of  wounds,  some 
of  sickness  incident  to  camp  life  and  of  those  who 
escaped  the  war,  some  have  fallen  all  along  the  wayside 
and  few  yet  remain.  The  Lord  has  been  very  gracious 
to  me.  I  am  in  reasonably  good  health  and  have  been 
successful  enough  in  business  to  gather  about  me  most 
of  the  comforts  and  necessities  of  life. 

The  Company  marched  down  the  street  to  the  home 
of  the  Hon.  Beverly  Lurty,  who  came  to  his  veranda 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  17 

and  made  a  very  encouraging-  speech,  bidding  us  God 
Speed. 

We  then  went  on  to  Bridgeport  and  there  listened 
to  a  fine  speech  of  Mr.  Johnston  a  venerable  ex-governor 
of  Virginia.  Several  miles  below  Bridgeport,  one  of 
our  scouts  came  back  and  reported  the  enemy  close  in 
front.  There  was  great  excitement.  Some  of  the  men 
did  not  even  have  guns.  One  of  the  men  from  Milford 
got  a  small  fence  stake,  saying  that  this  was  good  enough 
to  fight  with.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  there 
was  no  enemy  at  this  time,  but  that  some  body  got 
scared  and  imagined  he  saw  one. 

Early  Losses 

It  was  at  this  point  that  we  lost  two  of  our  most 
war-like  members  in  the  persons  of  two  big  politicians 
who  were  well  mounted  and  had  been  aching  for  a  fight 
all  day.  When  they  thought  the  fight  was  imminent  they 
suddenly  remembered  that  they  had  important  engage- 
ments back  in  Clarksburg,  and  they  spurred  their  horses 
in  that  direction.  I  never  saw  either  of  them  again 
until  after  the  war. 

We  halted  late  that  evening  at  Fetterman, 
where  we  remained  several  days  and  were  reinforced  by 
Capt.  Thompson's  company,  known  as  the  Marion 
Guards, 

I  do  not  remember  the  date  of  the  state  election 
on  the  matter  of  secession,  but  it  occurred  near  this  time. 
Secession  carried  from  one  extreme  of  the  state  to  the 
other  and  preparations  for  war  went  on. 


18  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

A  Warm  Reception 

One  afternoon  Col.  Porterfield  marshalled  his  little 
army  and  moved  into  Grafton.  We  had  about  250  in 
line.  As  we  were  moving  into  the  west  end  of  town  we 
heard  a  tremendous  noise  of  shouting  which  we  thought 
was  joy  at  our  coming.  It  was  not.  Nearly  the  whole 
population  was  out  on  the  streets,  but  they  were  not 
cheering.  They  were  shouting  and  cursing  and  abusing 
us  dreadfully.  There  were  about  30  men  on  horse- 
back, who  followed  immediately  behind  the  infantry  as 
we  entered  the  town.  My  father  road  at  the  liead  of 
this  company  of  horsemen.  When  a  short  way  in  the 
town,  some  men  ran  immediately  in  front  of  the  horse- 
men, carrying  a  very  long  United  States  Flag.  They 
stretched  it  entirely  across  the  street.  The  flag  was 
held  so  that  it  was  nearly  five  feet  high.  My  father 
spurred  his  horse  forward  and  jumped  the  flag.  One 
hind  foot  of  the  horse  caught  as  he  jumped  and  one  of 
the  men  let  go  of  the  flag.  At  the  same  moment  a  man 
on  the  top  of  the  house  threw  a  chair  at  my  father,  but 
missed  him  and  struck  the  son  of  the  ex-Governor  on 
the  head.  It  hurt  him  very  badly,  but  not  a  shot  was 
fired  and  no  other  harm  done  at  that  time. 

First  Man  Killed 

We  were  held  for  about  an  hour  on  the  platform 
of  the  old  railroad  hotel  and  it  seemed  to  me  we  had 
an  officer  for  about  every  six  men  and  all  of  them  beg- 
ging the  men  not  to  shoot.  Practically  the  whole  town 
was  out  in  the  street  above  us  cursing  and  calling  us 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  19 

Ugly  names.  I  think  that  was  about  the  longest  hour 
I  ever  spent. 

Late  in  the  evening  we  marched  back  to  Fetterman. 
About  nine  o'clock  that  night  our  sentry  was  approach- 
ed by  two  men  Wilson  and  Brown,  coming  along  the 
railroad  track.  When  within  about  sixty  feet  the  sentry, 
Knight,  ordered  them  to  halt.  For  an  answer  one  of 
the  men  fired  a  pistol,  the  bullet  hitting  Knight  in  the 
cheek.  He  immediately  raised  his  rifle  and  fired,  strik- 
ing Wilson  in  the  breast,  from  which  wound  he  died 
in  less  than  an  hour.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  com- 
motion, especially,  when  it  was  known  that  the  man 
who  was  killed  was  intoxicated  and  had  sworn  when 
he  left  Grafton,  that  he  would  have  some  Rebel  blood 
that  night  or  go  to  hell.     I  guess  he  went. 

A  large  number  of  Grafton  men  organized  and 
came  down  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  about  two 
o'clock,  intending  to  cross  the  bridge  there  and  attack 
the  garrison.  I  was  one  of  the  men  on  guard  duty  at 
the  bridge.  They  came  close,  but  they  reflected  and  did 
not  attack. 

Things  Begin  to  Happen 

History  began  to  make  very  rapidly  after  this.  In 
two  days  we  went  to  Grafton  and  occupied  it.  We 
had  now  nearly  five  hundred  men.  Someone  arranged 
to  reduce  our  number,  by  poisoning  our  bread  at  the 
bakery,  but  fortunately  it  was  found  out  in  time  to 
save  ourselves. 

About  this  time  Gen.  McClellan  came  down  the 
railroad  from  Parkersburg  with  about  3,500  men.     We 


20  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

felt  impelled  to  go  away  from  Grafton,  so  we  fell  back 
on  Philippi  which  was  eighteen  miles  away.  As  we 
crossed  the  bridge,  leaving  Grafton  in  a  hurry  it  must  be 
confessed,  the  citizens  came  out  and  greeted  us  with 
such  cheering  messages  as  these.  "Hello,  fellows,  why 
do  you  go  off  in  such  a  hurry  ? "  "  Stay  a  while  longer. ' " 
"General  McClellan  won't  do  a  thing  but  capture  you 
and  put  you  in  jail."  We  arrived  at  Philippi  late  in 
the  evening.  Here  our  company  was  quartered  in  the 
courthouse.  We  were  re-inforced  by  three  or  four 
hundred  men.  I  was  mustered  into  the  service  at 
Philippi  and  learned  afterwards  that  my  age  was  put 
down  as  21.  The  officer  putting  it  that  way  instead  of 
17,  my  real  age,  thinking  that  I  would  not  get  in  if 
my  real  age  were  known. 

A  Brave  Talker 

While  at  Philippi,  Capt.  Stofer,  a  lawyer  from  up 
in  Pocahontas,  favored  us  with  his  presence.  He  was 
a  broad,  heavy-set  man  and  quite  fond  of  making 
speeches.  He  had  a  peculiar  voice  and  a  supreme  con- 
fidence in  whipping  any  force  that  could  be  brought 
against  us.  One  evening  being  called  upon  for  a  speech, 
he  mounted  a  store  box  and  among  other  things  de- 
clared :  ' '  Gentlemen,  I  could  take  a  peach  tree  switch 
and  whip  all  of  Lincoln's  75,000  Yankees  if  they  invade 
Virginia."  I  might  say  here  that  the  Capt.  was  no\ 
cut  out  for  a  military  man.  He  was  a  little  later  cap- 
tured and  then  released,  and  then  went  back  to  the 
quiet  of  his  home,  and  left  his  soldiering  to  the  rest 
of  us. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  21 

McClellan  Attacks  Us 

Gen  McClellan  sent  up  a  strong  force,  about  3,000 
men,  the  first  of  June,  dividing  it  into  three  columns. 
One  was  to  attack  us  in  front,  one  crossed  the  river 
some  distance  below  to  attack  us  in  the  flank,  and  the 
other  to  cross  the  river  above  us  and  form  in  the  road 
and  in  the  timber  in  our  rear.  It  seems  to  me  that  if 
Col.  Porterfield  had  set  out  to  help  McClellan  he  could 
not  have  done  it  any  more  successfully  than  he  did. 

Early  Sunday  morning  we  were  ordered  to  move. 
We  were  all  ready  before  sunrise.  Then  he  counter- 
manded the  order  and  we  were  told  to  drop  out  of  ranks 
and  await  orders.  This  we  did,  having  scarcely  any- 
thing to  eat  all  day.  That  night  he  ordered  all  the 
pickets  in  at  nine  o'clock.  There  was  a  very  heavy 
rainfall  that  night,  but  the  enemy,  in  spite  of  this, 
marched  from  Grafton  and  at  day  light  opened  his 
artillery  within  300  yards  of  our  camp.  Of  course 
there  was  nothing  left  for  us  to  do  bufi  to  get  out  of 
town  quickly.  We  would  all  have  been  captured  that 
day  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  flanking  columns 
missed  their  way  and  the  attack  on  our  flank  and  rear 
was  not  made. 

Some  few  years  ago,  some  over  enthusiastic  citizens 
of  Philippi  decided  that  they  would  stage  a  big  celebra- 
tion of  this  first  battle  at  Philippi  and  they  sent  me  a 
beautifully  engraved  invitation  to  be  present.  I  like 
a  celebration  as  well  as  anybody,  but  as  I  reviewed  the 
events  which  transpired  when  I  met,  or  almost  met.  Gen. 
McClellan  at  Philippi  and  when  I  went  away  from 
Philippi  in  something  of  a  hurry,  leaving  a  nicely  cooked 


22  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

breakfast  for  some  Yankee  to  eat,  I  was  unable  to  think 
of  any  reason  why  I  should  go  back  to  Philippi  and 
celebrate,  so  I  did  not  go. 

We  fell  back  to  Beverly,  thirty  miles.  I  do  not 
remember  seeing  Col.  Porterfield  after  that  day.  I 
heard  that  he  was  court  martialed  and  dismissed  from 
the  service. 

A  Lawyer  Leaves  Us 

When  the  company  got  into  line  the  morning  of 
the  attack  at  Philippi,  George  Lurty,  a  lawyer,  was  with 
us,  being  placed  on  the  left  of  the  company,  where  the 
short  men  were  usually  placed.  George  heard  the  order 
for  Company  C  to  cover  the  retreat.  He  had  other 
plans.  He  took  a  sneak  immediately  in  the  direction  of 
Beverly.  Instead  of  covering  the  retreat,  he  broke  for 
the  rear,  first  throwing  his  gun  over  the  fence.  A 
passing  Cavalryman  gave  him  a  lift  after  persistent 
requests  to  do  so,  but  the  saddle  turned  and  they  both 
fell  off.  Lurty  was  in  so  much  of  a  hurry  that  he  did 
not  want  to  be  bothered  with  a  horse  and  he  ran  on. 
The  cavalryman  yelled  for  him  to  stop  while  he  fastened 
the  saddle  on,  but  George  would  not  stop.  He  climbed 
into  a  wagon  driven  by  a  countryman  and  told  him  for 
heaven's  sake  to  whip  up,  that  there  were  17,000  Yankees 
right  behind  him.  George  reached  Beverly  six  hours 
before  the  rest  of  us  did  and  we  really  did  not  linger 
on  the  road  any  longer  than  was  necessary. 

Incidents  at  Beverly 

At  Beverly  we  went  to  an  old  Tavern  and  waited 
our  turn  at  the  supper  table.    We  were  all  beastly  hun- 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  23 

gry.  I  remember  we  stood  behind  the  chairs,  waiting 
for  the  men  who  were  eating  to  get  up. 

The  next  morning,  early,  an  alarm  was  sounded, 
and  everybody  turned  out  into  the  streets,  including 
the  women  and  children.  There  was  a  tall  young  man, 
by  the  name  of  Armstrong,  from  Clarksburg,  with  us. 
He  was  out  at  the  barn.  When  the  alarm  was  sounded, 
he  came  bounding  up  through  the  garden.  There  was 
a  fence  and  a  stile,  but  Mr.  Armstrong  did  not  pay 
attention  to  either.  He  cleared  the  sMle  at  a  jump. 
This  was  because  he  was  excited.  The  enemy  did  not 
come  and  so  we  waited  until  nine  o'clock  that  night, 
when  we  were  ordered  to  fall  back  to  Huttonsville,  eleven 
miles.  The  mud  was  awfully  deep  and  every  little  while 
we  had  to  get  down  into  the  mud  and  lift  the  wagons 
out  of  a  hole.  About  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  my 
brother  and  I  turned  aside  into  a  barn,  almost  tired  to 
death,  covered  with  mud,  and  lay  down  on  the  barn 
floor,  and  slept  until  morning.  A  boy  came  into  the 
barn  yelling  that  the  Yankees  were  coming,  but  we  were 
so  tired  that  we  were  almost  willing  to  let  them  come. 
We  went  to  a  farm  house  where  they  furnished  us  with 
buck  wheat  cakes  and  we  had  a  great  breakfast. 

At  Huttonsville  we  were  joined  by  several  new 
companies,  among  them  Shoemaker's  battery  of  artillery. 
It  was  here  that  Gen.  Garnett  joined  us  and  took  com- 
mand. 

Major  Chenowith 

While  at  Huttonsville  I  got  very  well  acquainted 
with  a  splendid  and  dashing  young  officer.  Major  Cheno- 


24  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

with,  who  was  on  Gen.  Garnett's  staff.  He  spent  some 
time  testing-  out  the  new  recruits.  I  met  him  at  close 
range  one  night  when  I  was  on  picket  duty.  The  Major 
was  making  the  rounds  of  the  guards.  He  came  to  me 
and  entering  into  conversation,  became  exceedingly 
friendly.  At  last  in  a  familiar  way  he  asked  me  to 
let  him  handle  my  gun.  This  I  refused,  whereupon  he 
went  away,  apparently  very  angry.  He  did  get  hold 
of  the  gun  of  two  or  more  of  the  pickets  while  he  stayed 
there,  and  they  got  into  serious  trouble  about  it. 

I  was  on  guard  with  a  number  of  men  at  the  bridge 
one  night,  when  some  horsemen  rode  up  and  Chenowith 
seemed  to  be  in  command.  He  said  he  wanted  to  cross 
the  bridge  but  had  no  written  orders  from  the  General. 
I  refused  to  let  them  pass.  He  swore  he  would  cross 
the  river  just  above  the  bridge.  I  told  him  if  he  did 
I  would  fire  upon  him.  He  then  demanded  that  the 
Officer  of  the  Guard,  Lieut.  Galvin,  be  called.  This 
was  done  but  Galvin  would  not  let  him  pass  and  they 
both  grew  angry.  Finally  the  Major  had  to  withdraw. 
Major  Chenowith  was  a  gallant  soldier  and  was  killed 
at  the  battle  of  Port  Republic  in  1862. 

Laurel  Hill 

General  Garnett  ordered  a  forward  movement  to 
Laurel  Hill,  which  was  just  across  the  mountain  from 
what  is  now  the  town  of  Elkins.  We  had  been  joined 
by  the  23rd  Virginia  Infantry  and  by  the  first  Georgia 
Infantry. 

The  first  Georgia  Infantry  was  made  up  largely  of 
rich  men's  sons.    They  came  richly  dressed  and  some  of 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY    CAMMACK  25 

the  boys  were  attended  by  two  body  servants,  valet  and 
cook.  Some  of  the  fellows  got  dreadfully  homesick.  It 
was  here  that  one  of  them  having  a  sharp  hatchet  in  his 
hand  was  so  homesick  that  he  deliberately  cut  off  three 
of  his  toes  and  otherwise  mangled  his  foot,  and  being 
wounded  and  useless  as  a  soldier  was  sent  back  home. 

We  did  a  great  deal  of  drilling  here.  Part  of  it 
under  a  dashing  young  officer,  Lieut.  Washington.  We 
had  also  with  us  one  of  the  finest  looking  young  men 
I  ever  met,  Lieut.  Gatewood,  he  was  from  Bath  county, 
Virginia.  He  was  educated  at  the  Virginia  Military 
Institute  at  Lexington.  He  had  one  of  the  richest  and 
strongest  voices  I  have  ever  heard. 

Doing  Picket  Duty 

Gen.  McClellan  came  up  to  Belington  with  7,000 
men  and  laid  seige  to  our  position.  On  our  right  flank, 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  our  camp,  was  an  old  mill 
held  by  the  enemy.  We  had  a  picket  post  half  way 
between  the  camp  and  the  mill.  One  night  I  was  on 
guard  at  that  post.  The  position  ordered  by  the  sen- 
tinel was  the  most  exposed  and  unmilitary  one  that 
could  have  been  thought  of.  I  had  to  pace  100  feet 
in  an  open  clearing  with  the  bright  moon  light  shining 
down  on  me  and  a  deep  beech  wood  200  feet  away  on 
all  sides  so  dark  and  dense  that  my  vision  could  not 
penetrate  it.  When  I  had  walked  my  beat  about  an 
hour,  I  heard  two  menl  in  the  woods  near  me.  They 
walked  entirely  around  my  beat  three  times.  I  was  in 
the  open  and  on  the  post  nearest  the  enemy.  For  some 
strange  reason  no  harm  came  to  me.     When  I  was  re- 


26  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

lieved  I  told  what  had  occurred  and  urged  that  a  change 
be  made.  The  officer  of  the  guard  only  laughed.  The 
next  night  the  sentinel  on  tliat  post  was  fired  on  by  a 
couple  of  men  in  the  woods  near  him.  But  fortunately 
the  bullet  only  pierced  his  cartridge  box  and  destroyed 
some  of  his  ammunition.  After  that  they  put  three 
men  at  this  post. 

My  Brother  Lucius  was  four  years  older  than  I 
and  was  father  andj  brother  to  me  while  he  lived.  I 
found  out  afterwards  that  when  my  brother  learned 
that  I  had  been  sent  to  this  dangerous  post  he  went 
secretly  to  the  officer  of  the  day  and  tried  to  take  my 
post  and  have  me  recalled,  but  the  officer  declined  to 
do  it. 

Shot  at  by  Mistake 

Generally  when  the  Federals  shot  at  us  I  am  led 
to  believe  that  it  was  intentional,  that  they  really  would 
have  done  us  bodily  harm  if  they  could,  but  sometimes 
we  were  in  danger  from  our  own  men. 

While  at  Laurel  Hill,  CJen.  McClellan  was  at  Bel- 
ington  with  about  7,000  men.  One  evening  six  com- 
panies of  my  regiment  went  down  to  relieve  several  com- 
panies on  guard  in  the  woods  just  in  front  of  the  center 
of  the  Federals.  At  a  point  in  the  road  where  we  turned 
up  the  hill  to  relieve  our  men  we  met  Col.  Taliaferro 
who  had  become  separated  from  his  command.  Just  as 
we  got  in  line  we  were  fired  upon  from  the  top  of  the 
hill.  We  were  immediately  ordered  to  charge  up  the 
hill  and  to  hold  our  fire  until  we  could  see  the  enemy. 
There  was  a  man  to  mv  left  who  did  not  like  the  idea 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY    CAMMACK  27 

of  charging  up  the  hill,  so  he  started  and  ran  back. 
Lieut.  Gatewood  halted  him  and  told  him  that  he  would 
shoot  him  if  he  did  not  make  the  charge  with  us.  So 
he  figured  that  since  he  would  get  shot  either  way  that 
he  might  as  well  go  up  the  hill,  and  he  went  with  us. 
We  soon  found  that  the  whole  thing  was  a  mistake,  for 
we  had  been  fired  upon  by  four  companies  of  the  23rd 
Regiment  which  we  had  come  to  relieve,  they,  in  the 
twilight  mistaking  us  for  the  enemy. 

So  far  as  I  can  remember  this  was  the  only  instance 
during  the  war  that  I  was  in  such  a  dangerous  place 
and  was  not  the  least  bit  afraid. 

The  Laurel  Hill  Retreat 

General  Pegram  had  moved  forward  from  Beverly 
to  Rich  Mountain,  about  the  time  we  advanced  to  Laurel 
Hill.  McClellan  attacked  Rich  Mountain  and  Pegram 
capitualated  the  day  before  we  retreated  from  Laurel 
Hill.  The  Federals  cannonaded  and  skirmished  with 
us  several  days  before  the  retreat.  McClellan  flanked 
us  and  would  have  gotten  entirely  in  our  rear,  if  we 
had  not  hastily  retreated. 

For  one  hundred  hours  before  the  retreat,  I  was 
on  continuous  picket  duty  on  the  mountain  not  far 
from  our  camp,  getting  only  snatches  of  sleep,  ten 
minutes  at  a  time. 

Several  days  before  leaving  Laurel  Hill  our  Colonel 
and  seven  companies  of  the  31st  was  sent  down  to  the 
old  mill  on  our  right  flank.  Col.  Jackson  gave  very 
strict  orders  that  we  hold  that  position  at  all  hazards. 
We  had  a  large  ill  tempered  fellow  in  the  company, 


28  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

a  man  by  the  name  of  Griffith.  We  were  in  an  old  mill 
race  which  was  dry  and  made  very  excellent  breast 
works,  and  we  were  told  that  the  enemy  was  only  300 
yards  in  front  and  would  attack  and  charge.  When 
Griffith  got  this  news  he  adopted  the  motto  of  "Safety 
First"  and  retired  up  the  hill  behind  a  big  tree.  Up 
to  this  moment  he  had  been  very  brave  and  let  it  be 
known  as  far  as  hisi  voice  would  reach  that  he  was  a 
great  fighter  and  was  really  yearning  for  excitement. 

A  Long  Hard  Retreat 

I  had  been  on  picket  duty  for  one  hundred  hours, 
as  I  have  stated,  McClellan  had  almost  surrounded  us. 
General  Garnett  found  it  necessary  to  retreat.  It  can 
be  readily  imagined  that  many  of  us  were  in  poor  con- 
dition to  endure  the  hardships  of  what  has  since  been 
known  as  the  Laurel  Hill  Retreat,  which  took  us  over 
mountains  and  through  rivers  in  rain  and  mud  and 
underbrush  with  almost  no  food  and  no  rest  for  six 
days  and  nights. 

We  waded  the  Cheat  river  24  times  and  had  the 
battle  named  after  that  river  on  one  of  these  six  days. 
On  t'he  same  day  we  lost  our  beloved  commander  Gen. 
Garnett.  I  sat  on  a  rock  and  put  on  my  shoes  within 
ten  feet  of  Gen.  Garnett  only  a  few  minutes  before  he 
was  killed.  McClellan  was  in  our  rear  pressing  us.  Hill 
was  expected  to  attack  us  in  front  with  1,500  men.  The 
31st  Regiment  was  sent  forward  to  meet  Hill,  so  my 
company  was  not  engaged  in  the  battle  at  the  Ford. 
Gen.  Garnett  was  sent  for  hurriedly  to  go  back  as  the 
enemy  was  making  an  attack  on  our  rear.    The  Federals 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  29 

came  across  a  bottom  a  third  of  a  mile  from  the  woods 
and  attacked  our  men  as  they  were  crossing  the  river. 
We  had  Shoemaker's  Battery  and  four  brass  guns 
posted  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  One  gun  was 
put  out  of  commission  by  a  shot  of  the  enemy  striking 
it  fairly  in  the  muzzle. 

Gen.  Garnett  had  crossed  the  river  to  the  opposite 
side,  but  detailed  20  men  of  the  23rd  Virginia  to  guard 
the  balance  of  our  wagons  across  the  ford,  while  he 
went  back  to  face  the  enemy.  When  the  last  group  of 
wagons  was  about  midway  of  the  stream,  Gen.  Garnett, 
seeing  that  the  enemy  would  kill  or  capture  his  guard, 
ordered  them  to  cross  the  river  behind  the  wagons.  The 
guards  refused  to  move  unless  he  would  go  with  them. 
This  he  would  not  do.  When  the  men  had  gotten  about 
half  way  over  the  river,  the  general  was  about  to  start 
in  the  water  but  was  shot  in  the  breast  and  killed.  He 
had  been  an  instructor  at  West  Point  to  Gen,  MeClellan, 
the  Federal  officer,  whose  men  were  just  across  the 
mountain  pursuing  him. 

Gen.  MeClellan  had  Gen.  Garnetts  body  prepared 
for  burial  and  then  sent  it  through  the  lines  to  his  home 
for  burial. 

The  enemy,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  lost  more  men  at 
Carrick's  Fork  than  we  did,  although  we  were  badly 
crippled.  MeClellan  did  not  push  his  advantage,  be- 
lieving that  Gen.  Hill  would  give  us  battle  at  Red  House, 
Maryland.  This  Hill  did  not  do,  although  we  lay  badly 
crippled,  tired,  hungry  and  demoralized  within  200  feet 
of  his  pickets.  I  understand  that  he  was  court  mar- 
tialed  for  not  doing  so.  At  this  time  we  had  lost 
everything  we  had,  except  the  artillery  horses. 


30  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

We  arrived  at  Red  House,  Maryland,  about  one 
o'clock,  Saturday  night  and  laid  down  on  the  side  of 
the  road  and  slept  until  sunrise.  "We  then  took  up  the 
line  of  retreat  again  and  got  back  into  Virginia  at 
Rocky  River  bridge.  Two  incidents  occurred  that  are 
worth  mentioning.  Our  command  had  stopped  on  the 
Maryland  side  of  the  river  guarding  the  rear.  A  num- 
ber of  cows  and  calves  were  grazing  near  where  we 
camped.  We  had  had  nothing  to  eat  for  three  days 
and  nights  but  two  crackers  each.  Tom  Reed,  my  bro- 
ther and  myself,  killed  a  calf,  stripped  the  hide  from 
a  hind  leg,  cut  out  some  meat  and  holding  it  over  a 
fire  with  our  rani  rods  began  to  broil  it.  We  had  neither 
salt  nor  bread  to  eat  it  with,  but  it  tasted  good. 

Even  this  meal  was  a  short  one.  While  we  were 
cooking  the  meat  some  cavalry  hurried  in  and  told  us 
the  enemy  was  coming.  We  immediately  crossed  the 
bridge  and  set  it  on  fire. 

A  Comrade  Divided  up  With  Me 

We  started  on  our  way  in  a  hurry.  The  road  was 
dusty.  The  sun  was  hot  and  we  had  to  climb  a  long 
hill  after  leaving  the  bridge.  While  going  up  the  hill. 
I  saw  a  young  fellow  eating  a  piece  of  raw  fat  side 
meat.  The  grease  and  dirt,  where  his  fingers  dug  into 
the  side  meat  as  he  held  it,  showed  verj^  plainly,  but 
I  was  not  particular  at  that  time.  I  did  not  know  him, 
but  I  asked  him  if  he  thought  he  had  eaten  enough  of 
that,  and  he  said  he  had.  He  passed  it  over  to  me  and 
I  took  it  and  ate  quite  a  lot  of  it,  notwithstanding  the 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY    CAMMACK  31 

marks  of  his  fingers,  and  the  dirt  and  grime  from  a 
dusty  road,  for  I  was  hungry. 

More  than  twenty  years  after  this  incident,  and 
after  I  had  moved  to  Huntington  I  was  standing  in  the 
store  of  Deacon,  J.  N.  Potts,  talking  over  experiences 
in  the  war.  Dr.  Wall  and  some  one  else  was  present. 
I  told  this  story  giving  it  plenty  of  color  and  not  fail- 
ing to  mention  how  dirty  looking  the  man  was  who 
gave  me  the  meat.  They  laughed  about  it,  and  then 
Deacon  Potts  gave  me  the  surprise  of  my  life  when  he 
said,  "I  was  the  man  who  gave  you  that  meat."  but 
he  said,  "Even  now  I  feel  like  whipping  you  for  the 
way  in  which  you  referred  to  my  appearance. ' '  Brother 
Potts  and  I  had  been  intimately  associated  from  the 
day  I  came  to  Huntington  and  have  been  the  closest 
personal  friends  up  to  this  time  and  we  will  be  to  the 
end  of  the  road  and  beyond. 

Another  incident.  ]\Iy  brother  Lucius  had  had 
whooping  cough  and  was  not  very  strong.  Our  shoes 
had  given  entirely  out.  During  the  march  we  were 
without  food  except  a  few  crackers  and  the  two  meat 
dinners  that  I  have  just  mentioned.  My  brother  gave 
out  and  sat  down  by  the  roadside  and  encouraged  me 
to  go  on  with  the  Company.  I  refused  to  leave  him. 
Capt.  Cooper  came  along  and  finding  that  my  brother 
could  get  no  further  asked  him  if  he  had  any  money. 
He  said  that  he  had  spent  his  last  cent  the  day  before. 
"Well",  said  Capt.  Cooper,  "I  am  strong  an,d  will  give 
you  all  I  have."  He  turned  his  back  to  us  and  put  a 
silver  quarter  in  my  brothers  hand.  It  was  all  the 
money  that  Capt,  Cooper  had.     He  finally  got  strong 


32  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

enough  to  travel  slowly  and  we  found  our  way  through 
the  woods  to  the  home  of  a  man  who  had  nothing  in  his 
house  to  eat  but  a  few  small  onions.  He  told  us  that 
if  we  would  go  to  the  big  white  house,  about  two  miles 
away,  that  we  would  get  something  to  eat,  as  his  wife 
was  up  there  cooking  for  the  soldiers. 

We  finally  reached  the  big  white  house  and  found 
our  cavalry  rear  guards  there  trying  to  get  something 
to  eat.  The  road  in  front  of  the  house  was  a  mass  of 
men  and  horses.  I  went  back  to  the  kitchen  and  told 
an  old  colored  woman  that  if  she  would  get  me  some 
corn  bread  and  buttermilk  I  would  give  her  a  quarter. 
"Well  honey,"  she  said,  "you  come  into  de  kitchen  and 
when  I  lifs  up  the  top  of  the  oven  you  grab."  I  did 
this  three  times  and  we  had  a  royal  meal.  I  never 
remember  eating  anything  in  my  life  that  tasted  as 
good.  INIy  brother  was  greatly  strengthened  for  it  was 
the  first  real  food  that  we  had  had  in  about  four  days. 
In  the  strength  of  this  food,  we  traveled  skirting  along 
in  the  woods  and  fields  until  two  o'clock  that  night, 
when  we  caught  up  with  our  command. 

We  Kept  on  Going 

Then  we  came  to  Petersburg  in  Hampshire  County. 
Here  we  got  flour  and  some  of  us  thinking  we  had  plenty 
of  time,  carried  our  flour  away  up  in  the  town  to  have 
it  baked.  We  got  hold  of  a  big  chunk  of  beef  and  were 
having  that  baked  but,  before  we  had  the  bread  baked 
or  the  beef  cooked,  those  blamed  Yankees  came  tearing 
down  on  us  with  a  rush  and  we  had  to  leave  the  place 
hungry  and  in  a  very  bad  humor.    We  waded  across  the 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  33 

river,  which  at  that  point  is  about  150  yards  wide  and 
while  not  very  deep,  had  a  slippery  bottom  on  account 
of  the  large  boulders. 

The  next  thing  I  remember  was  a  great  crowd  of 
friendly  people  who  came  in  to  see  us  at  Franklin  in 
Pendleton  County  and  brought  great  loads  of  provisions 
to  us.  The  men  were  nearly  perished  and  certainly  not 
very  polite,  and  it  finally  ended  by  men  getting  in  each 
wagon  and  throwing  out  meat  and  bread  and  pies  and 
cakes,  like  a  farmer  throws  corn  to  his  hogs.  We  almost 
had  a  riot  at  this  point  when  it  was  reported  that  some 
of  the  provisions  brought  in  by  the  farmers  were  taken 
by  the  officers  and  sold  to  the  soldiers.  This  may  or 
may  not  have  been  true.  I  did  not  believe  it,  and  think 
that  it  grew  out  of  the  imagination  of  a  lot  of  half 
starved  men. 

From  this  place,  it  was  only  about  25  miles  to 
Monterey  in  Highland  County,  Virginia,  the  end  of  the 
retreat.  We  were  joined  here  by  the  3rd  Arkansas 
Regiment,  urder  Col.  Rust,  a  very  brave  and  impetuous 
officer,  also  by  another  four  gun  battery  and  two  com- 
panies of  cavalry.  After  being  there  about  two  weeks 
we  all  moved  forward  to  Greenbrier  river  at  the  west 
foot  of  the  Alleghany  mountains  at  a  place  which  we 
named  Camp  Bartow. 

At  Camp  Bartow 

At  Monterey  we  had  a  man  about  forty  years  old, 
belonging  to  our  company,  by  the  name  of  George  Arbo, 
he  was  very  untidy,  not  to  say  dirty  and  he  had  an 
enormous  appetite.     I  do  not  know  how  much  he  really 


34  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

could  eat,  but  I  remember  one  evening  at  supper,  seeing 
him  drink  six  pint  tin  cups  of  coffee.  I  think  he  liked 
coffee. 

While  at  Camp  Bartow,  Capt.  Stofer,  whom  I  have 
mentioned  before  as  to  making  a  speech  at  Philippi  in 
which  he  said  we  could  lick  all  of  Lincoln's  soldiers 
with  a  peach  tree  switch,  came  in  to  camp  again.  He 
was  visibly  subdued.  He  had  been  a  prisoner  and  had 
just  made  his  escape.  He  still  wore  his  black,  long 
tailed  coat,  or  at  least  what  was  left  of  it.  After  run- 
ning as  hard  as  he  had  for  so  many  days  to  avoid  meet- 
ing some  of  Lincoln's  men,  he  was  very  docile.  So  far 
as  I  know  after  that,  he  took  no  active  part  in  the  war. 

Here  we  were  increased  in  number  by  the  44th 
Virginia,  the  12th  Georgia,  with  Col.  Edward  E.  Johns- 
ton, and  by  Hanshaws  battery  of  infantry,  and  by  the 
25th  Virginia  battery  of  infantry,  with  Maj.  Rogers. 
Soon  after  this  my  brother  Lucius  was  on  picket  at  the 
foot  of  Cheat  mountain,  having  some  men  on  the  post 
with  him.  Two  cavalry .  videttes  were  out  in  front  of 
them  and  discovered  about  60  men  in  blue  at  the  top 
of  Cheat  mountain.  These  men  rode  by  the  post  and 
yelled  to  the  boys  that  the  enemy  was  coming.  Almost 
before  they  could  get  ready  the  enemy  double  quicked 
around  the  turn  in  platoon  formation.  Two  of  the 
pickets  ran  without  firing,  but  my  brother  and  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Slocum  fired  at  the  enemy  about  60 
yards  away.  They  then  had  to  run  to  escape  capture. 
Slocum  escaped.  My  brother,  who  was  sickly,  could 
not  run  so  well.  He  climbed  a  fence  and  started  across 
a  little  meadow.  The  Federals  rested  their  guns  on 
the  fence  and  fired  at  him.    One  bullet  pierced  his  right 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  35 

arm,  two  cut  him  across  the  right  shoulder  and  one 
across  the  right  hip.  He  was  the  first  man  in  this 
regiment  to  be  wounded.  After  a  long  time  the  wounds 
healed,  but  his  right  arm  was  crooked  and  there  was 
only  strength  in  his  fingers  to  pull  a  trigger. 

He  was  taken  to  a  hospital  in  Harrisonburg,  Va. 
and  even  before  his  wounds  healed  he  took  typhoid 
fever,  which  nearly  ended  his  life.  But  he  recovered 
and  soon  after  entered  the  10th  Virginia  infantry,  in 
Capt.  Milhorn's  company. 

The  Cheat  Mountain  Expedition 

Shortly  after  my  brother  was  wounded,  1,600  men 
volunteered  under  Col.  Rusk,  to  go  on  what  was  known 
as  the  Cheat  Mountain  Expedition.  The  Federals  were 
well  entrenched  and  fortified  on  top  of  Cheat  mountain. 
One  group  was  to  take  a  guide  and  go  to  the  rear  of 
the  fortifications  on  Cheat  mountain  and  a  simultaneous 
attack  was  to  be  made  by  Gen.  Henry  Jackson  on  the 
front  with  2,900  men. 

I  was  a  volunteer  with  the  1,600  men  who  went  in 
the  rear  of  the  enemy's  camp  and  fortifications.  "We 
were  three  days  and  nights  getting  into  position  in 
rear  of  the  enemy's  camp.  Cheat  mountains  are  a  long 
range  paralleling  the  Alleghanies  and  very  close  to 
them  on  the  west.  Our  party  (the  1,600)  was  made 
up  of  volunteers  from  all  the  commands  and  the  hope 
was  that  we  could  take  the  summit  of  the  mountain 
where  the  Parkersburg  and  Staunton  pike  crosses.  The 
place  was  well  fortified,  having  a  block  house,  with 
heavj'  guns  in  it  in  the  center  of  the  camp  and  heavy 


36  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

rifle  pitts  entirely  around.  This  place  was  defended 
by  3,200  men,  when  we  started,  but  they  must 
have  gotten  wind  of  ■  our  movements,  for  the 
night  before  the  attack  they  were  reinforced 
by    3,000    men. 

We  reached  our  position  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy, 
after  a  horrible  trip  in  the  mountains,  probably  50 
miles.  We  waded  down  the  Cheat  river,  over  five  miles, 
because  the  laurel  was  so  thick  on  the  banks  we  could 
not  get  through.  Sometimes  the  water  was  almost  up 
to  our  necks.  At  nine  o'clock,  the  night  before  the 
attack,  we  were  a  mile  and  one  half  from  the  enemy. 
Every  thread  of  clothing  on  us  was  soaked  by  the  rain 
and  the  river.  It  rained  on  us  continually  five  days 
and  nights.  We  lay  down  on  the  mountain,  over  a  mile 
from  the  camp,  having  cut  brushes  off  the  trees  to  put 
under  us.  It  was  absolutely  dark.  There  was  not  one 
ray  of  light.  Not  a  word  was  spoken  above  a  whisper, 
for  two  days  and  nights.  When  we  moved  forward  that 
night,  each  man  held  on  to  the  jacket  or  belt  of  his 
file  leader.  Many  slipped  and  fell  and  some  were  right 
much  hurt.  My  company,  C  of  the  31st  Virginia,  com- 
manded by  Capt.  Cooper,  was  deployed  a  third  of  a 
mile  west  of  the  enemy's  fortification.  The  enemy  not 
knowing  that  we  were  there  sent  a  large  detachment 
down  to  relieve  picket  guard.  Wlien  they  were  opposite 
our  company  we  fired.  This  alarmed  the  camp  above 
us  and  they  sent  probably  a  thousand  men  and  two 
pieces  of  artillery  to  attack  us.  There  were  only  a 
few  casualties,  but  we  captured  90  men. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  37 

Too  Much  For  Us 

At  this  juncture  a  council  of  war  was  held  and 
it  was  discovered  that  3,000  men  had  come  to  the  enemy 
the  night  before.  Rusk  and  one  other  officer  favored 
an  immediate  attack,  but  all  of  the  others  opposed  it. 
Then  Col.  Rusk  began  to  withdraw  his  men,  but  in  his 
hurry  he  forgot  our  company.  We  came  very  near  being 
captured.  The  enemy  had  a  heavy  column  on  each  side 
of  our  flank.  We  got  out  and  caught  the  rear  of  our 
forces,  three  fourths  of  a  mile  away.  Col  Rusk  came 
back  and  finding  that  we  did  not  have  our  knap  sacks 
and  equipment,  asked  where  they  were.  We  had  strip- 
ped for  the  fight  and  had  left  them.  He  made  a  sharp 
order  for  us  to  go  back  and  get  them.  We  were  in  the 
extreme  rear  of  the  command  and  in  single  file.  We 
about  faced  and  started  back,  Seargent,  Bill  Taylor, 
being  in  advance.  When  we  got  down  in  sight  of  our 
baggage,  I  turned  and  looked  back  and  there  were  only 
seven  of  us.  Soon  I  looked  again  and  everybody  had 
gone  but  Bill  Taylor  and  myself. 

The  enemy  was  going  up  on  either  side  of  us  and 
we  would  soon  be  entirely  cut  off.  The  Yankees  were 
punching  bayonets  into  our  baggage  and  shooting  holes 
in  it.  Taylor  insisted  on  shooting  at  them,  but  I 
strongly  urged  that  he  should  not  do  so.  Finally  I  got 
Bill  away  and  we  caught  up  with  the  army.  We  lost 
the  90  prisoners  we  had  captured  and  40  of  our  own 
men. 

After  almost  incredible  hardships,  returning  by 
the  same  route,  wading  this  time  up  the  river,  as  we 
had  before  waded  down  for  over  five  miles,  having  lost 


38  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

over  200  of  our  men,  having  lost  our  prisoners,  thorough- 
ly dispirited,  tired  and  hungry,  we  got  back  into  camp. 

The  main  body  of  the  army,  under  Gen.  Jackson, 
had  made  at  attack  on  the  enemy's  front  but  were  re- 
pulsed. Jackson  and  his  men  got  back  to  camp  several 
days  before  we  did.  It  would  be  impossible  to  describe 
the  condition  of  our  men  when  we  returned  to  Camp 
Bartow,  foot-sore,  weary,  half  starved,  ragged,  dirty, 
discouraged  and  many  of  them  sick. 

General  Reynolds  Attacks 

After  recruiting,  resting  and  drilling  a  long  time, 
we  were  in  pretty  good  shape  when  Gen.  Reynolds  at- 
tacked us  on  October  3,  1861.  We  had  the  31st  Virginia, 
23rd  Virginia,  1st  and  12th  Georgia,  25th  Virginia  Batt., 
two  four  gun  batteries  and  two  or  three  cavalry  com- 
panies. General  Jackson  commanded.  Reynolds  attack- 
ed early  in  the  morning.  The  largest  part  of  the  fight- 
ing was  done  by  artillery.  We  had  about  2,500  men  and 
the  Federals  3,500.  They  attacked  us  while  we  occupied 
a  fine  position  on  the  foot  hills  of  the  Alleghanies.  Two 
of  our  cannons  fired  over  our  heads  about  fifteen  feet 
above  us  on  the  side  of  the  mountain.  The  gun  just 
above  me  fired  85  times,  and  the  reports  were  deafening 
to  me.  My  hearing  was  badly  injured  by  the  noise.  A 
gunner  in  the  company  next  to  me  performed  a  very 
heroic  action  during  the  fight.  The  enemy  was  throw- 
ing shells  at  us.  One  fell  above  the  rifle  pits  and  rolled 
down  among  the  men  before  bursting.  This  gunner 
grabbed  the  shell  and  threw  it  out  just  2  seconds  be- 
fore it  burst.  Had  he  not  done  this  it  would  probably 
have  killed  and  wounded  a  large  number  of  our  men. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  39 

During  this  engagement  in  the  forenoon  the  camp 
guard  had  not  been  relieved.  The  men  were  pacing 
their  beats  in  front  of  the  regiment  when  a  thirteen  inch 
shell  came  across.  It  seems  to  have  struck  the  commis- 
sary building  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  then,  ricocheting, 
struck  the  ground  once,  then  struck  the  gun  of  a  sen- 
tinel. He  was  at  support  arms.  The  point  of  the  shell 
struck  the  barrel  near  the  last  band  and,  reversing  ends, 
struck  the  barrel  just  below  the  first  band,  doubling  the 
gun  in  the  shape  of  a  hoop  and  knocking  the  sentinel 
about  twenty  feet.  Strangely  enough,  the  sentinel  was 
not  much  hurt.  He  got  up,  found  his  gun,  went  up  to 
the  colonel's  quarters  and  speaking  as  though  he  was 
greatly  at  fault  in  the  matter,  said,  "Colonel,  my  gun 
is  knocked  all  to  pieces  and  I  want  to  know  if  you  will 
give  me  another  one."  I  was  present  at  the  moment 
and  Col.  Jackson  said,  "Yes,  indeed,"  but  you  send 
that  old  gun  home  to  your  people.  Nothing  like  that 
has  ever  happened  to  anyone  before." 

John,  Dan  and  Ed  Smith  were  in  my  company, 
but  for  two  weeks,  John  had  been  away  sick.  When 
they  heard  the  roar  of  the  guns,  during  the  fight,  some- 
one notified  Dan  and  myself,  that  Mr.  Smith  and  John 
had  come  and  were  on  our  right  in  a  ravine,  being 
stopped  there  by  an  officer.  We  got  permission  to  go 
to  Mr.  Smith,  who  was  73  years  old,  paralyzed  on  one 
side,  had  very  little  use  of  himself  and  had  to  be  helped 
on  and  off  his  horse.  When  we  got  to  him  the  old  man 
was  angry  and  was  contending  with  an  officer,  who  would 
not  let  him  go  into  the  fight.  I  said,  "Mr.  Smith,  you 
must  not  go  up  that  bank  for  you  will  be  hurt."  He 
said,  "What  do  you  mean,  sir?     My  blood  is  as  rapid 


40  PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

now  as  it  ever  was.''  "We  could  do  nothing  with  him, 
and  an  officer  compelled  him  to  keep  under  the  hill  out 
of  the  range  of  musketry  until  the  engagement  was  over. 
The  fight  lasted  about  eight  and  one  half  hours, 
and  at  its  conclusion  we  held  our  position  and  the  enemy 
retreated  to  his  block  house,  ten  miles  away,  on  the  top 
of  Cheat  mountain. 

My  Cousin  Willie  Manly 

During  our  stay  at  Camp  Bartow,  my  cousin,  Wil- 
lie Manly  of  the  44th  Virginia  infantry,  took  typhoid 
fever  and  when  the  doctor  found  that  he  was  going  to 
die,  they  sent  for  his  father  to  come  to  get  him.  The 
only  means  of  transportation  back  over  the  mountain 
was  in  heavy  army  wagons. 

Uncle  Peter  got  the  boy  in  one  of  them  and  they 
reached  Hightown  at  the  end  of  the  first  day  and  camp- 
ed. Before  morning  the  spirit  of  cousin  Willie  departed 
and  Uncle  Peter  kept  on  home  to  Fluvanna  County  with 
the  dead  body  of  his  boy. 

Willie  was  a  fine,  manly  fellow  and  a  good  soldier. 
Once  while  he  was  sick  in  a  big  hospital  tent,  I  went 
to  see  him  and  he  said,  "Cousin  Henry,  won't  you  bring 
me  a  canteen  of  that  good  cold  spring  water  behind  your 
camp."  I  said  I  would  and  I  went  and  got  it,  but  the 
doctors  would  not  let  him  have  the  cold  water  and  the 
nurse  hung  the  canteen  up.  Poor  boy,  that  night  he 
watched  the  chance  and  crawled  out  of  bed  and  drank 
so  much  water  that  the  doctor  said  it  would  kill  him 
and  I  suppose  it  did. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  41 

Col.  Edward  E.  Johnson 

Col.  Johnson  was  a  Georgian  and  an  old  Army 
officer  before  the  war.  He  came  to  Virginia  in  command 
of  the  12th  Georgia.  He  was  a  man  of  undoubted 
courage  and  a  good  officer.  One  or  two  incidents  will 
show  his  character. 

At  Camp  Bartow,  while  commander  of  the  army, 
he  used  to  ride  about  to  his  picket  posts  at  very  un- 
reasonable hours  and  often  found  his  sentinels  not  ex- 
pecting him.  One  rainy  night  he  went  up  the  mountain 
road  a  couple  of  miles,  unattended.  When  within  60 
feet  of  the  post,  the  sentry  halted  him  and  ordered 
him  to  dismount,  hands  up,  bridle  rein  over  arm,  ad- 
vance and  give  the  countersign.  This  was  alright  and 
the  General  dismounted  and  came  up.  He  was  halted 
within  twenty  feet  of  the  sentry.  "Halt,  and  counter-^ 
sign,"  shouted  the  sentry.  "I  have  no  countersign,  I 
am  Gen.  Johnson."  "I  don't  know  who  you  are  and 
I  don't  care  who  you  are,  mark  time,  march."  The 
general  was  compelled  to  mark  time  while  the  sentinel 
sent  the  word  out  the  line  for  the  Officer  of  the  Guard. 
The  mud  was  deep,  but  the  sentry  kept  the  General 
marking  time  until  the  officer  came  and  relieved  him. 

The  General  complimented  the  sentry  very  much 
of  his  soldierly  way  of  doing.  The  sentry  told  some  of 
the  boys  later  that  he  knew  the  old  'Son  of  a  Gun'  all 
the  time  but  he  wanted  to  get  even  because  the  General 
had  put  him  in  the  guardhouse  once  for  getting  drunk. 

At  the  battle  of  Alleghany  Mountain,  Gen,  Johnson 
was  marching  along  the  hill  with  the  men  and  carrying 


42  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

a  stick  about  two  feet  long  waving  it  before  his  eyes, 
and  yelling,  '^Give  "em  Hell  boys,  Give  'em  Hell." 

At  McDowell,  the  General  was  shot  in  the  foot  as 
he  was  leading  his  men  up  tlie  hill  into  the  fight.  One 
of  his  old  regiment,  seeing  him  laying  close  to  the  lines 
as  they  went  up  the  hill,  turned  out  and  said,  "Oh, 
General  are  you  hurt,  can  I  help  you?"  "No  Sir, 
Damn  you,  you  go  on  up  the  hill  into  the  fight,  you  are 
just  trying  to  get  out  of  it." 

At  Camp  Yeager 

About  the  25th  of  November,  we  went  back  up 
the  mountain  to  Yeagers,  where  we  went  into  camp  and 
fortified. 

On  the  13th  of  December,  our  army  was  attacked 
by  the  Federals  from  the  top  of  Cheat  Mountain.  The 
fight  raged  for  nearly  nine  hours,  but  the  enemy  was 
driven  back  with  very  hea^n,-  loss.  Our  losses,  also  were 
severe.  Our  Company  C  lost  eighteen,  killed  and 
wounded  out  of  about  42  men  in  the  fight.  Out  of  our 
commissioned  and  non-commissioned  officers,  everyone 
but  myself  was  killed,  wounded  or  missing.  I  was  a 
Corporal  at  the  time  and  the  command  of  the  company 
devolved  on  me  for  two  weeks.  We  buried  six  of  our 
men  in  one  grave,  and  I  commanded  the  firing  party. 

We  lost  a  great  man  there  in  the  person  of  Capt. 
Anderson,  a  Captain  of  Artillery.  He  saw  some  men 
in  the  edge  of  the  woods  toward  Greenbank.  Supposing 
them  to  be  our  Greenbank  pickets  driven  in,  he  rode 
out  and  called  to  them  to  come  on  in.  The  men  raised 
their  guns  and  fired,  killing  him  instantly.     It  was  a 


i 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  43 

detachment  of  the  enemy  that  had  slipped  up  through 
the  woods  and  impersonated  our  men.  The  Captain 
had  been  a  soldier  in  Mexico  and  in  the  Indian  Wars 
and  was  killed  in  his  58th  battle. 

The  night  following  the  battle,  I  was  dreadfully 
busy.  We  had  to  go  over  a  field  hunting  for  the  wound- 
ed. I  remember  that  up  on  the  side  of  the  mountain, 
about  eleven  o'clock,  we  found  several  wounded  Yan- 
kees. One  of  them  was  shot  through  the  thigh  and 
groin.  He  swore  frightfully,  cursing  every  one  of  us 
and  saying,  "If  our  men  had  all  fought  like  I  did, 
there  would  have  been  none  of  you  left  to  tell  the  tale. 
Poor  fellow,  he  died  the  next  day. 

Very  many  incidents  might  be  related  of  the  Battle 
of  Alleghany  Mountains  and  of  camp  life  here  that 
might  be  interesting,  but  I  have  not  time  to  dwell  on 
these  things  now.  Fifty  years  have  gone  by  and  much 
has  been  entirely  forgotten  and  some  things  though 
partially  remembered  are  now  hazy  and  indistinct. 

I  find  it  especially  difficult  to  remember  names  and 
dates  of  long  ago.  Men  that  I  was  familiarly  acquainted 
with  and  some  of  them  that  I  can  see  in  my  minds  eye, 
almost  as  plain  as  a  picture  of  them  would  be,  are  now 
entirely  forgotten  as  to  their  names. 

Sent  to  a  Hospital 

About  January  1st,  1862,  our  surgeons  said  that 
if  I  could  be  taken  to  the  hospital  at  Staunton,  Virginia, 
I  would  probably  get  well  again.  Col.  Edward  John- 
son, mentioned  above,  in  command  of  the  brigade,  swore 
that  "No  man  strong  enough  to  sit  up  in  his  bed  and 


44  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

pull  a  trigger  should  go."  After  considerable  effort 
on  the  part  of  Brigade  Surgeon  Bland,  and  his  assistant 
Dr.  Buttermore,  I  was  taken  to  Cow  Pasture  river, 
where  they  had  to  leave  me  for  some  days  in  order  that 
I  might  be  strong  enough  to  go  on  to  the  hospital  at 
Staunton. 

I  think  I  remained  at  Staunton  until  April,  when 
we  were  sent  on  to  Lynchburg.  Two  incidents  of  my 
stay  at  Staunton  come  to  me  just  now  that  I  will  relate. 

In  the  previous  fall  my  trip  in  the  attack  on  Cheat 
Mountain  had  caused  me  to  take  a  dreadful  cold  and 
my  fall  in  the  river  had  brought  a  great  sore  on  my 
left  leg,  which  finally  spread  up  to  my  body  and  down 
to  the  ankle.  Among  other  troubles  from  this  cause 
came  an  abscess  on  my  neck  on  the  left  side,  which  grew 
as  large  as  a  pint  cup.  Dr.  Minor,  the  chief  Surgeon, 
fearing  it  would  break  inside,  in  which  case  he  said  I 
would  die,  decided  to  open  it.  Two  surgeons  came  to 
do  this  and  wanted  to  give  me  an  anesthetic,  which  I 
refused.  Then,  said  Dr.  Minor,  ''I  shall  arrange  the 
matter  by  having  three  men  hold  you  during  the  opera- 
tion."  This  scared  me  worse  than  ever,  and  I  declared 
I  would  not  submit  to  this,  but  if  he  would  allow  it,  I 
would  sit  on  a  chair  and  grip  it  strongly  and  be  per- 
fectly still  during  the  operation.  Dr.  Minor  insisted 
that  I  could  not  do  this  and  that  if  I  flinched  or  at- 
tempted to  evade  the  knife  in  any  way,  it  would  prob- 
ably be  fatal  to  me.  I  do  not  know  how  I  summoned 
enough  nerve,  but  I  did.  They  made  two  incisions 
of  about  two  and  one  half  inches  across  horizontally 
and  there  came  out  a  quart  of  puss. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  45 

The  other  incident  was  this :  After  I  began  to  get 
better  and  was  allowed  to  walk  about  the  grounds,  a 
comrade  from  Philippi  and  myself  were  often  together 
and  we  agreed  that  as  we  were  not  given  enough  to  eat, 
we  would  get  some  on  the  side.  We  bought  a  fat  hen 
and  some  butter  and  flour  and  agreed  with  one  of  the 
cooks  at  the  hospital  to  give  him  all  he  could  eat  of 
our  pie  for  baking  it.  I  remember  Fred  and  I  sat  in 
front  of  the  kitchen  window  and  waited  and  waited 
for  that  pie  to  get  done.  Finally  when  we  were  nearly 
starved,  the  man  came  out  carrying  our  pie  in  a  big 
stove  pan,  just  as  he  had  taken  it  from  the  oven.  We 
ate  enough  to  kill  us,  but  it  didn't  hurt  us  a  bit.  I 
have  always  thought  well  of  myself  for  the  part  I  had 
as  to  that  chicken  pie. 

At  Lynchburg 

About  225  of  us  were  taken  to  Lynchburg  in  April 
and  put  in  an  improvised  hospital.  The  building  had 
formerly  been  used  as  a  tobacco  factory. 

One  morning  I  woke  up  in  this  place  and  found 
two  dead  men,  one  on  either  .side  of  me.  The  cots  were 
about  two  and  one  half  feet  apart.  There  were  about 
160  patients  in  the  factory,  a  large  brick  building  with 
a  partition  running  through  the  middle,  the  partition 
having  arched  openings  between. 

One  of  our  men,  Geo.  Lurty,  had  his  jaw  broken 
by  Lieut.  Jim  Galvin  on  Alleghany  Mountain  in  a 
drunken  brawl.  I  had  helped  him  by  poulticing  his 
jaw  and  otherwise  doctoring  him.  He  was  also  in 
Tjynchburg.     By  this  time  the  wound  in  his  jaw  had 


46  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

separated  and  had  produced  a  round  hole  in  the  jaw 
I  was  on  the  street  one  day  and  heard  George  convers- 
ing with  a  very  nice  old  citizen.  George  was  telling 
him  about  the  battle  of  Alleghany  Mountain  and  how 
lie  was  shot  through  the  cheek.  I  do  not  remember 
how  long  I  stayed  at  Lynchburg.  I  was  afflicted  with 
a  hurt  I  had  received  the  previous  summer  at  Cheat 
river,  when  we  attacked  Cheat  Mountain  stronghold. 
I  had  fallen  in  the  river  and  hurt  my  knee,  as  mentioned. 
There  came  something  like  a  blood  boil  on  my  knee.  This 
developed  into  a  sore,  which  extended  up  to  my  waist 
and  down  to  my  ankle.  I  suppose  I  must  have  taken 
cold,  which  caused  this  sore.  In  addition  to  this,  I 
was  worn  out  and  run  down  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
head  doctor  held  a  consultation  with  the  surgeon  and 
decided  that  I  would  not  get  well.  So  they  decided 
that  they  would  make  me  ward  master  in  the  building 
where  I  was,  and  if  I  declined  that  honor,  they  would 
discharge  me  from  the  service.  I  very  promptly  de- 
clined the  position  of  ward  master,  which  place  I  had 
not  the  physical  strength  to  fill.  Soon  after  that  they 
sent  me  to  my  regiment  for  discharge.  The  oversight 
or  meanness  of  sending  me  to  my  regiment  for  discharge, 
consisted  in  sending  me  off  without  furnishing  me  with 
either  transportation  or  money,  and  I  was  so  weak  that 
I  could  scarcely  walk  a  square. 

Soon  after  getting  on  the  train,  going  from  Lynch- 
burg to  Charlottsville  and  realizing  that  I  had  no  money, 
I  curled  up  on  a  seat.  "When  the  conductor  came  by  he 
did  not  waken  me  or  ask  for  fare.  I  heard  him  say 
"Poor  Fellow,  he  is  sick,"  and  passed  on. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  47 

At  Charlottsville,  I  changed  to  the  Virginia  Cen- 
tral, now  the  C.  &  0.  and  came  to  Staunton.  I  had 
known  this  conductor  from  a  boy.  When  I  told  him 
who  my  father  was,  he  remembered  him  well  and  carried 
me  without  pay.  At  Staunton  I  cought  a  wagon  going 
to  camp,  eight  mile^  away  and  got  back  to  the  old  Regi- 
ment again.  They  believed  from  the  Surgeon's  report 
from  Lynchburg,  that  I  "wauld  not  live  long  and  gave 
me  my  discharge  and  pay.  The  pay  was  in  confeder- 
ate money,  but  the  depreciation  at  that  time  was  not 
more  than  25  per  cent.  I  was  getting  $13.50  per  month, 
and  while  I  had  four  months  back  pay,  it  did  not  go 
very  far.  Soon  after  this,  I  went  down  to  Uncle  Peter 
Manly 's  in  Fluvanna  County  to  get  well. 

Back  Into  the  Service 

I  came  back  to  the  valley,  after  a  little  while,  and 
met  Jackson's  forces  (Stonewall)  coming  up  from  Win- 
chester, where  he  had  achieved  a  great  victory,  had 
captured  many  prisoners  and  nearly  4,000  wagon  loads 
of  provisions  and  ammunition.  My  brother  Lucius,  who 
had  been  so  badly  wounded  at  the  foot  of  Cheat  Moun- 
tain, the  fall  before,  was  at  this  time  in  the  Valley  with 
Jackson  and  had  ehargej  of  a  large  train  of  ordnance 
supplies,  captured  at  Winchester.  My  brother  was  an 
Ordnance  Officer  on  Stonewall  Jackson's  staff.  2,300 
prisoners  were  brought  in  ahead  of  the  army  and  sent 
to  Richmond  via  Staunton.  As  before  stated,  I  was 
sick  and  could  hardly  get  about,  but  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  ride  a  horse  to  Staunton  and  supposing  that 
Jackson  would  follow  right  on  to  Staunton  I  went  up 


48  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

the  valley.  Next  day  I  found  that  Jackson  had  turned 
off  the  Valley  pike,  south  of  Harrisonburg  and  taken  the 
Fort  Republic  road. 

About  one  half  mile  from  where  Jackson  left  the 
pike  there  is  a  piece  of  timber  land.  A  school  house 
stood  in  this  timber,  and  it  was  here  that  Gen.  Turner 
Ashby  was  killed  on  the  evening  of  the  day  I  went  up 
to  Staunton.  On  the  following  morning,  learning  that 
Jackson's  army  had  gone  to  Fort  Republic,  I  turned 
and  came  down  to  Mt.  Sidney,  pushing  on  by  a  road 
Southeast  of  that  point.  I  nearly  ran  into  the  soldiers 
of  the  opposing  army,  and  into  the  battle  of  Cross  Keys. 
I  could  not  reach  our  forces  by  that  route.  The  follow- 
ing morning  I  went  down  to  the  Virginia  Central,  some 
ten  miles,  on  my  way  to  Fort  Republic.  I  got  within 
a  mile  of  town.  Jackson  had  defeated  the  enemy  at 
Cross  Keys,  had  crossed  the  river  that  night  and  in 
the  early  morning  had  given  battle  to  Gen.  Shields, 
just  below  Port  Republic.  Wlieu  I  had  gotten  near 
the  town,  I  had  been  meeting  a  lot  of  ambulances, 
wagons,  men  on  horseback  and  a  good  many  on  foot, 
but  everj^hing  was  in  confusion.  I  could  learn  noth- 
ing of  what  was  going  on.  Of  course  I  could  hear  the 
booming  of  cannons  and  the  rattle  of  small  arms,  but 
just  at  this  point,  two  or  three  officers  rode  hurriedly 
from  the  direction  of  Port  Republic  and  ordered  every- 
one going  in  that  direction  to  turn  and  hurry  to  the 
rear  so  as  to  give  way  to  the  retiring  troups. 

It  was  probably  nine  hours  later,  after  we  had  all 
turned  back  that  I  learned  that  Jackson  had  defeated 
Shields.  There  was  no  action  during  the  war  that  I 
regretted  not  being  in  more  than  this  one.     To  be  sure 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  49 

I  was  on  the  sick  list  and  was  under  no  obligations  to 
be  in  it,  but  my  brother  was  there  and  I  wanted  more 
than  I  can  tell,  to  be  with  him.  But  I  had  no  horse, 
and  was  scarcely  able  to  walk.  I  shall  always  believe 
that  the  officers  that  came  out  of  the  town  that  morning 
and  turned  us  back  were  getting  out  of  the  fight  them- 
selves. 

Cross  Keys  and  Port  Republic 

It  was  at  Port  Republic  in  the  early  dawn  of  the 
morning,  that  Stonewall  Jackson  started  across  the 
bridge.  Whether  he  knew  the  enemy  was  there  or  not 
I  cannot  tell.  When  he  came  within  twenty  feet  of 
the  muzzle  of  a  gun,  the  men  who  manned  it  all  being 
in  their  places,  his  quick  wit  and  courage  saved  him. 
He  demanded,  "who  ordered  this  gun  placed  here?" 
They  supposing  him  to  one  of  their  own  officers  in 
authority,  were  put  out  by  his  question  and  for  a 
moment  fell  away  from  the  gun.  Jackson  spurred  his 
horse  and  dashed  away  from  the  bridge,  and,  although 
they  quickly  discovered  they  had  been  sold  out,  they 
fired  and  missed  him. 

These  two  battles.  Cross  Keys  and  Port  Republic, 
showed  magnificant  generalship  on  the  part  of  Jack- 
son. He  came  up  the  valley,  apparently  fleeing  from 
the  enemy.  Fremont,  with  a  large  army,  mostly  Ger- 
mans, followed  him  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  while 
Shields  came  up  the  Massonetta  Valley  parallel  to  the 
other  army,  and  not  more  than  twenty  miles  apart. 
Their  plan  probably  was  to  form  a  junction  near  Staun- 
ton and  crush  the  Confederates.     They  evidently  mis- 


50  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

understood  the  kind  of  military  brain  that  Jackson 
carried  under  that  old  grey  cap.  After  Port  Republic 
Jackson  fell  back  to  Brown's  Gap. 

The  second  day  after  the  battle  of  Port  Republic, 
I  went  down  the  river  on  the  East  side  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  and  up  to  Brown's  Gap,  where  Jackson  had  fal- 
len back  for  safety  and  to  rest  his  troops.  Here  I 
found  my  brother  Lucius  laying  under  some  small  trees 
and  bushes,  very  sick  and  I  think  at  times,  unconscious. 
He  had  undergone  great  hardships  in  the  previous  four 
weeks.  He  had  brought  the  captured  stores  out  of 
Winchester  and  had  safely  gotten  them  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  enemy. 

Taking  My  Brother's  Place 

I  think  it  was  the  day  following  my  reaching  the 
army  that  we  had  orders  to  move.  Of  course  we  did 
not  know  where.  We  had  heard  that  Whitings  Division 
from  Lee's  Army  had  gone  on  to  Staunton  by  rail. 
Most  of  us  had  the  notion  that  we  would  go  after  and 
destroy  Fremont  and  Shields.  Then  when  we  were 
ordered  East  we  felt  sure  that  we  would  go  up  to 
Richmond  to  confront  McClellan. 

When  our  part  of  the  command  reached  Charlotts- 
ville,  I  was  ordered  to  take  my  brother's  place  under 
Capt.  Hugh  Lee  for  the  campain  East  and  my  brother 
was  ordered  to  go  down  into  Fluvanna  County  to  Uncle 
Peter  Manly 's  to  get  well.  At  this  point  Gen.  Whit- 
ing's one  half  division  passed  us  on  the  way  to  Rich- 
mond. I  think  this  division  was  sent  up  there  to  deceive 
the  Federals.     We  felt  that  as  these  men  were  fresh, 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  51 

having  ridden  from  Richmond,  only  a  few  days  before, 
that  they  should  have  walked  and  some  of  the  other 
foot  soldiers  have  ridden.  But  Jackson  decided  differ- 
ently, and  probably  he  was  right. 

The  fight  of  the  Seven  Days  Battle  was  opened 
by  Jackson  at  Mechanisville  early  in  June,  1862,  and 
for  seven  bloody  days  the  battle  waged  until  its  close 
at  Malvern  Hill.  When  our  fellows  went  cautiously 
over  the  enemy's  ground  the  next  morning  they  were 
not  in  sight.  They  had  moved  off  before  daylight  down 
to  the  river  and  had  gotten  themselves  safely  under 
cover  of  their  Gun  Boats,  at  Harrison's  Landing. 

Terrible  Scenes 

I  am  not  writing  a  history  of  the  war,  but  I  am 
jotting  down  personal  things  that  occurred  during  these 
four  years. 

I  sometimes  think  I  saw  more  dead  and  wounded 
men  and  horses  during  these  seven  days  that  I  have 
ever  seen  in  my  life. 

At  Frazier's  farm  I  looked  carefully  over  about 
two  and  one  half  acres  of  ground,  where  a  very  large 
number  of  men  had  fallen.  I  think  one  might  have 
walked  over  and  over  this  ground  from  any  direction 
and  never  put  his  foot  on  anything  but  dead  men,  I 
counted  32  corpses  in  a  log  stable  not  over  twenty  feet 
square,  where  they  had  been  barricaded  and  were  shoot- 
ing between  the  logs. 

For  a  great  many  years,  following  the  war  of  the 
sixties,  my  stomach  has  been  sensitive  and  if  any  filthy 
sight  meets  my  eyes  or  unpleasant  odor  assails  my  nose. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 


I  cannot  eat,  even  though  I  be  very  hungry.  But  it 
was  not  always  thus.  Just  after  one  of  these  battles 
and  on  a  hot  day  I  was  surrounded  by  dead  men  and 
horses.  Coming  to  a  little  ravine  I  sat  down  on  the 
rump  of  a  dead  horse  that  really  smelled  very  badly 
and  ate  a  bit  of  lunch.  Bei"ng  very  thirsty,  I  went  to 
the  rivulet  and  lying  prone  upon  the  ground  took  a 
big  drink  of  water.  Getting  up  from  the  ground  and 
looking  up  the  rivulet  I  saw  a  dead  horse  laying  across 
the  stream. 

A  Message  to  Jackson 

The  next  day  after  the  battle  of  Frazier's  farm, 
I  was  sent  with  a  dispatch  to  Stonewall  Jackson  with 
orders  to  go  to  a  certain  apple  tree  near  the  main  house 
and  deliver  the  message  to  him.  This  I  was  anxious  to 
do,  but  not  finding  the  General  at  his  headquarters  and 
the  day  being  very  hot,  I  put  the  bridle  rein  over  the 
horse's  head  and  lay  down  on  a  plank,  one  end  of 
which  was  set  up  in  the  tree  about  four  and  one  half 
feet  from  the  ground.  I  was  tired  and  so  laid  back 
on  the  plank  with  my  feet  on  the  ground.  I  do  not 
know  how  long  I  laid  there,  but  I  awoke  with  a  start 
which  rapidly  reached  a  great  big  scare.  Before  me 
stood  a  big  Union  soldier,  with  a  gun  in  his  hand.  I 
pretended  not  to  see  him  and  closed  my  eyes  again  like 
I  was  still  asleep.  I  was  wondering  what  in  the  world 
I  would  do. 

I  finally  decided  to  blufl:  it  out,  so  I  opened  my 
eyes  and  apparently  saw  him  for  the  first  time.  I 
shouted  to  him,  though  he  was  less  than  six  feet  away. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  53 

"What  are  you  doing  here,  sir?"  "What  do  you  want?" 
To  my  utter  surprise  he  answered,  "I  came  in  to  sur- 
render, bedad. ' '  I  was  greatly  relieved  and  said,  ' '  Give 
me  your  gun,  sir."  And  when  he  handed  it  up  to  me 
I  felt  like  thanking  him.  His  explanation  to  me  was. 
that  he  had  been  in  the  regular  army  for  eight  years, 
and  when  the  war  came  on  he  was  somewhere  on  the 
frontier.  They  promised  not  to  send  him  East,  as  he 
would  not  fight  against  his  own  people.  They  evidently 
forgot  this  and  his  regiment  was  sent  East.  He  said, 
"I  have  been  in  this  seven  days  fight,  begad,  but  I 
always  fired  in  the  air."  He  said  he  was  lost  from  his 
regiment  in  the  swamp  the  night  before  and  was  de- 
termined to  come  in  and  surrender. 

I  turned  him  over  to  Gen.  Jackson,  whom  he  said 
he  knew,  as  he  had  served  with  him  in  Mexico.  I  sup- 
pose that  this  must  have  been  true  because  I  was  told 
that  Jackson  recognized  him  and  gave  him  a  parole. 

I  have  always  believed  that  Gen.  McClellan's  mili- 
tary ability  was  of  a  very  high  order,  else  he  never 
could  have  extricated  as  much  of  his  army  from  the 
Chickahominy  swamps  as  he  did,  and  carried  them  safe- 
ly to  Harrison's  Landing.  I  cannot  believe,  even  now, 
that  he  would  have  succeeded  but  for  disobedience  of 
orders  on  the  part  of  Gen.  Hughes,  who  I  have  always 
understood,  was  directed  by  Lee  to  throw  his  division 
across  a  certain  main  road  on  which  McClellan  was  re- 
treating, and  thus  prevent  his  escape.  Either  from' 
misunderstanding  of  orders  or  some  other  cause  Gen. 
Hughes  did  not  move  his  division  to  the  point  indicated 
for  24  hours,  and  thus  he  allowed  the  Federal  Army 
to  escape  almost  certain  capture  or  destruction. 


54  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

Malvern  Hill 

The  last  of  the  Seven  Days  battle  was  in  some 
respects  the  most  desperate  of  the  seven.  The  enemy 
was  making  a  last  grand  effort  to  save  himself,  and  the 
battle  lasted  until  9 :30  at  night.  The  cannonading  was 
absolutely  terrific.  The  musketry  was  continuous  and 
dreadful.  The  enemy  fought  as  hard  as  they  fought 
at  any  time  during  the  whole  war.  Our  men  were 
thrown  time  and  again  at  the  hill,  in  the  attempt  to 
drive  them  off.  After  the  most  desperate  efforts  they 
were  withdrawn  a  short  distance  to  wait  for  morning. 

"When  the  morning  light  came,  it  was  found  that 
McClellan  had  retreated  under  the  shadow  of  his  Gun 
Boats,  not  daring  to  risk  another  daylight  battle.  Dur- 
ing the  battle  at  Malvern  Hill,  some  of  our  very  best 
Brigades  stormed  the  enemy  lines  and  were  beaten  back 
time  and  again.  Just  after  a  desperate  assault  one  of 
Jackson's  brigades  was  driven  back  with  fearful  loss, 
and  they  were  so  much  demoralized  that  by  ones  and 
twos  and  dozens  they  were  leaving  the  field.  Finally 
Jackson,  seeing  that  many  of  his  men  were  completely 
demoralized,  threw  himself  among  them  and  endeavored 
to  halt  them  and  turn  them  back,  but  there  was  no  use. 
This  was  probably  the  only  occasion  during  the  war  that 
this  great  soldier  failed  in  stopping  a  rout  among  his 
men. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Union  Army  had  been 
doing  splendid  fighting  and  had  been  ably  led,  but  this 
fight  was  too  much  for  them.  When  McClellan  reached 
Harrison's  Landing  and  placed  his  army  in  the  shadow 
of  the  gun  boats  it  was  a  worn  and  demoralized  rem- 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  55 

nant  of  the  magnificent  hosts  that  stood  before  Rich- 
mond, when  the  fight  opened  at  Mechanicsville. 

Some  days  after  this  my  brother  returned  from 
Uncle  Peter  Manly 's  and  as  I  was  worn  out,  I  left  the 
army  and  went  through  Richmond  on  up  to  Uncle 
Peter's. 

Uncertain  Transportation  Facilities 

Before  leaving  I  got  hold  of  a  mule  that  we  cap- 
tured in  one  of  the  last  fights.  This  mule  was  about 
the  ugliest  quadruped  that  I  ever  saw.  He  had  the 
hair  rubbed  off  him  in  many  places  by  the  harness,  but 
in  other  places  on  his  body  and  especially  on  his  belly 
the  hair  had  grown  from  three  to  four  inches  long. 
His  attitude  was  that  of  perversity.  He  threw  me  off 
three  times  the  morning  I  left.  When  he  could  not 
get  me  oft'  any  other  way,  he  would  rush  out  into  the 
bushes  and  trees  and  scrape  me  off.  He  succeeded  in 
kicking  my  legs  several  times  while  I  was  in  the  saddle. 

I  overtook  a  sick  soldier  from  Alabama,  lying  on 
the  road  side  resting.  I  felt  like  being  kind  to  him 
and  asked  him  to  ride.  I  rather  think  he  did  not  like 
the  looks  of  that  mule,  but  after  some  pursuasion  he 
got  on  and  started.  He  had  not  gotten  over  25  feet 
when  he  was  thrown  off  in  the  sand.  I  laughed  at  him 
and  told  him  that  he  did  not  know  how  to  ride.  He 
bristled  up  and  mounted  again.  The  mule  promptly 
threw  him  off  the  second  time.  Then  he  was  mad  at 
me  and  the  mule.  After  much  persuasion  and  kidding 
on  my  part  he  remounted  after  I  had  promised  to  lead 
the  animal,  which  I  did  with  a  long  rope.     The  rope 


56  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

was  20  or  more  feet  long,  and  this  was  necessary  for 
safety,  because,  even  at  this  distance,  I  had  trouble 
in  keeping  out  of  the  animal's  way. 

It  was  about  seven  miles  through  Richmond  from 
the  Rockets  to  the  West  end  of  Broad  Street  and,  there  I 
was,  leading  that  mule  all  the  way,  being  constantly 
followed  by  a  crowd  from  50  to  150  boys  yelling  and 
jeering  at  me.  Every  little  while  the  mule  would  amuse 
himself  and  the  boys  by  either  kicking  me  or  them. 

Five  miles  from  town  I  overtook  a  man  driving 
a  good  looking  sorrel  mare.  I  must  have  inherited  a 
tendency  to  trade  horses.  It  is  a  weakness  that  one 
should  try  to  overcome.  I  had  only  been  with  that 
feUow  a  few  minutes  when  we  began  to  trade.  He 
explained  that  the  slight  limp  which  his  horse  showed 
came  from  catching  her  shoe  in  the  planks  of  a  bridge, 
a  few  days  before,  but  that  she  was  the  gentlest  animal 
he  had  ever  known. 

We  swapped. 

I  went  on  a  couple  of  miles  and  stopped  for  the 
night.  That  mare  had  the  worst  case  of  bone  spavin 
and,  in  the  fourteen  years  that  she  had  lived,  had  de- 
veloped the  most  awful  temper  that  I  have  even  seen 
in  a  domestic  animal.  She  also  had  a  bad  sore  on  her 
back  that  I  had  not  noticed.  I  sold  her  for  a  very 
small  figure  to  a  farmer.  He  tried  to  make  her  plow, 
but  it  sometimes  took  three  or  four  negro  men  to  get 
her  to  go  and  then  keep  her  going. 

Jackson's  Tactics 

I  have  already  stated  that  all  of  Jackson's  foot 
soldiers  were  very  indignant  when  Wilcox's  and  other 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY    CAMMACK  57 

divisions  were  sent  East  by  rail  while  they  had  to  walk. 

In  the  first  place  these  fresh  troops  were  sent  West 
as  a  strategic  move  to  deceive  the  enemy.  They  were 
sent  West  as  though  Jackson  contemplated  a  trip  with 
his  army  to  follow  up  the  Federal  forces  around  Win- 
chester. As  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  arranged  by  Lee 
and  Jackson  to  immediately  double  back  these  fresh 
troops  to  the  front  of  Richmond  and  of  course  they 
reached  there  before  Jackson's  foot  soldiers  did. 

Another  thing  we  never  understood,  and  because 
of  it  were  greatly  worried.  Just  as  soon  as  Jackson's 
Army  reached  North  Richmond,  one  of  his  divisions 
opened  the  Seven  Days  battle  at  Mechanicsville. 

One  incident  is  related  of  how  Jackson  was  able 
to  keep  his  own  counsel.  Stonewall  was  riding  in  front 
of  the  Army  with  several  of  his  staff.  In  passing  a 
large  gate  near  one  of  those  old  Colonial  Homes  that 
are  frequently  seen  in  Virginia,  a  very  pompous  looking 
old  gentleman  rode  out.     He  immediately  saluted  the 

General,  rode  along  side  and  said,  "my  name  is , 

I  am  very  well  and  favorably  known  here  in  this  State. 
I  am  a  strong  Southern  man.  I  think  I  am  perfectly 
reliable  and  I  want  you  to  tell  me  where  your  next 
battle  with  the  Federals  will  take  place." 

The  General  looked  at  him  kindly  and  said,  "Can 
you  keep  a  secret?"  "Yes  sir,"  replied  the  gentleman, 
' '  I  can. "  "  Glad  to  know  that,  sir, ' '  said  Gen.  Jackson, 
"So  can  I." 

Around  Richmond 

General  McClellan  had  a  large  army,  probably 
180,000  men,  on  the  peninsula.     They  were  well  equipp- 


58  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

ed  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  were  all,  from  Mc- 
Clellan  to  the  rawest  private,  confident  of  going  into 
Richmond  within  a  few  days. 

Lee  had  about  140,000  men  including  Jackson's 
army  from  the  valley.  This  Army  from  the  valley  had, 
in  less  thaii^  65  days,  almost  driven  the  enemy  out  of 
the  valley.  They  came  up  and  whipped  the  Federals 
under  Cook  and  Reynolds,  at  McDowell,  then  hurried 
down  the  valley,  driving  the  enemy  before  them.  Near 
"Winchester  they  captured  2,200  prisoners  and  4,500 
wagon  loads  of  commissary  and  ordnance  stores.  These 
he  drew  along  with  him  and  came  up  fighting  the  enemy 
at  Cross  Keys  and  badly  defeating  them.  Then,  the 
following  day,  he  met  the  enemy  under  Shields  at  Port 
Republic,  having  prevented  Fremont  and  Shields  from 
forming  a  Junction.  If  they  had  succeeded  in  joining 
forces  they  might  have  beaten  Stonewall's  army  and  in 
that  case  McClellan  would  probably  have  entered  Rich- 
mond. 

The  Army  Corps  commanded  by  Jackson  opened 
the  fight  just  East  of  Richmond  at  Mechanicsville,  but 
instead  of  Wilcox's  division  of  fresh  troops  being  sent 
in  to  open  the  fight  it  was  begun  by  some  of  the  worn 
out  and  wearied  troups  of  the  Valley  Army,  the  same 
men  who  had  fought  and  beaten  the  enemy  at  Cross 
Keys  and  Port  Republic.  AVhen  they  got  near  Rich- 
mond they  were  foot  sore  and  weary.  They  were  hur- 
ried into  the  Seven  Days  figliting,  beginning  in  Mechan- 
icsville and  ending  at  Malvern  Hill.  McClellan  had 
withdrawn  to  the  shelter  of  his  gun  boats.  Throughout 
the  Seven  Days  battle,  including  Gaine's  Mill  and 
Frazier's  Farm  and  ending  at  Malvern  Hill,  I  served 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  59 

in  my  brothers  place  on  Stonewall  Jackson's  staff  as  a 
Sargeant  of  Ordnance  and  throughout  these  battles  I 
was  kept  busy  issuing  ammunition.  Sergt.  Wade  was 
the  ranking  non-commissioned  officer  and  Capt.  Hugh 
Lee,  formerly  of  Clarksburg,  and  a  nephew  of  Gen.  Lee 
was  a  Captain  and  Staff  officer  with  Stonewall. 

Sometimes  the  Ordnance  train  was  two  or  three  mile* 
in  the  rear  of  the  firing  line,  and  sometimes  right  up 
against  it.  We  had  plenty  of  chances  for  being  hurt 
by  far  reaching  minnies  or  bursting  shells. 

Good  Generalship 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  if  it  had  not  been 
for  a  mistake  in  orders  or  for  wilful  disobedience  on 
the  part  of  one  of  our  commanders,  McClellan  would 
have  been  bottled  up  following  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill 
and  his  troops  surrounded  in  the  swamps.  The  action 
of  our  officers  has  always  been  severely  commented 
on  by  Officers  and  privates.  Failure  to  throw  a  division 
across  McClellan's  main  avenue  of  escape  permitted 
MeClellan  to  get  to  his  gun  boats. 

The  general  opinion,  both  South  and  North  has 
been  that  MeClellan  was  lacking  in  Generalship  in  leav- 
ing the  peninsula  as  well  as  in  the  conduct  in  the  Seven 
Day  battle.  But  I  agree  with  many  of  our  best  military 
critics  in  the  South,  that  not  only  in  the  disposition 
and  management  of  his  superb  army,  but  also  in  his 
masterful  retreat  he  showed  that  he  had  the  brain  of 
one  of  the  best  strategists  on  the  continent.  It  seems 
to  me  that  the  retreat  could  not  have  been  better  man- 
aged. 


60  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

At  Green  Springs 

Soon  after  the  last  mentioned  campaign,  Gen.  Lee's 
Army  reoceupied  their  lines  in  front  of  Richmond. 
Jackson  moved  his  army  to  Green  Springs,  about  75 
miles  from  Richmond  in  Louisa  County.  Here  he  rested 
and  built  up  his  command  for  about  eighteen  days. 

It  was  while  the  army  lay  here  that  I  saw  my  bro- 
ther Lucius  for  the  last  time.  He  had  gotten  stronger 
and  had  reached  our  camp  the  day  following  the  battle 
of  Malvern  Hill.  He  had  asked  to  be  relieved  from 
Staff  Duty  in  order  that  he  might  go  back  to  his  Com- 
pany. 

I  have  never  believed  much  in  dreams  or  super- 
natural warnings.  My  brother  was  a  very  practical 
man,  but  he  evidently  had  a  strong  feeling  that  he  would 
not  survive;  the  next  battle.  He  confided  this  to  my 
Aunt  Hettie  Manly,  but  requested  that  she  would  not 
tell  me.  He  told  me  just  before  the  command  marched, 
and  the  last  time  I  ever  saw  him,  that,  "He  did  not 
believe  the  bullet  had  ever  been  moulded  that  would 
kill  him. ' '  But  I  know  now  that  this  was  pure  bravado, 
and  was  said  to  keep  my  spirits  up. 

On  the  morning  that  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain 
opened,  August  9th,  1862,  he  told  Lieut.  Riddleberger, 
a  personal  friend  of  his  and  some  years  later  a  U.  S. 
Senator,  that  he  would  be  killed  in  the  battle  they  were 
just  entering.  Riddleberger  made  light  of  his  state- 
ments, of  course  not  believing  in  premonitions.  He 
told  me  later  that  my  brotlier  went  into  the  fight  with 
coolness  and  confidence  as  though  there  was  so  sort  of 
danger.     He  was  at  the  head  of  his  Company  and  to 


I 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  61 

all  appearances,  entirely  indifferent.  He  had  been 
wounded  at  times  previous  to  this. 

Some  hours  after  the  beginning  of  that  hard  fight 
his  regiment  was  sharply  engaged  with  the  enemy  and 
was  being  supported  by  two  new  Alabama  Regiments, 
which  seemed  unable  to  stem  the  force  of  the  sttack, 
so  fell  back.  The  enemy  then  charged  the  10th  Infantry. 
It  was  a  terrible  situation.  The  Regiment  had  to  re- 
tire. Col.  Givens  and  a  number  of  officers  were  killed. 
Large  numbers  of  officers  and  privates  were  killed  and 
wounded.  When  the  order  was  given  for  the  Regiment 
to  retreat,  my  brother  probably  did  not  hear  it,  for  he 
stood  in  his  place  firing  a  short  rifle  until  he  was  finally 
shot  in  the  right  side  and  mortally  wounded.  As  he 
fell  he  called  to  the  boys  not  to  let  the  enemy  get  his 
body.  Capt.  Melhom,  Lieut.  Eliddlebarger  and  two 
other  men  whose  names  I  cannot  remember  ran  back 
in  the  face  of  the  enemy's  fire  and  within  twenty  feet 
of  their  line  and  carried  him  off  the  field. 

He  was  carried  to  a  house  about  300  yards  from 
where  he  fell.  He  lived  about  27  hours,  suffering  most 
awfully.  The  ball  had  stopped  after  its  course  just 
below  the  skin.  I  have  the  bullet  in  my  possession  now. 
It  seems  a  gruesome  thing  to  keep,  but  I  brought  it 
home  after  the  war  and  gave  it  to  my  mother.  Before 
her  death  she  gave  it  back  to  me  with  the  request  that 
I  should  keep  it. 

My  Brother 

My  brother  was  as  faithful,  conscientious  and  brave 
a  soldier  as  I  ever  knew.     He  was  a  sincere  Christian 


62  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

and  was  not  afraid  to  die.     In  August,   1862,  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  he  was  in  his  23rd  year. 

He  was  about  four  years  older  than  I,  and  had  been 
a  father  as  well  as  a  brother  to  me.  He  kept  nothing 
for  himself,  but  gave  without  stint,  whatever  he  had 
that  would  be  of  use  to  me.  When  I  had  been  appointed 
to  dangerous  picket  duty  he  would  try  to  get  the  oflBcers 
to  let  him  serve  in  my  place.  We  always  had  our  purse 
in  common. 

I  Tried  to  be  With  Him 

I  was  scarcely  able  to  be  about  and  was  still  re- 
cuperating at  Uncle  Peter  Manleys,  when  I  heard  the 
booming  of  the  guns,  which  announced  the  battle  of 
Cedar  Mountain. 

I  knew  that  my  brother  would  be  in  this  fight  and. 
weak  as  I  was,  I  determined  to  go.  Of  course  I  did  not 
know  the  exact  point,  but  I  knew  that  the  fight  must 
take  place  East  of  the  Virginia  Central  railroad. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  though 
scarcely  able  to  sit  on  a  horse,  I  mounted  and  rode  until 
eleven  o'clock  that  night.  Being  unable  to  stand  it  any 
longer,  I  stopped  at  a  house  and  asked  permission  to 
spend  the  balance  of  the  night,  but  met  with  a  decided 
refusal.  I  then  asked  to  bring  my  horse  in  and  lay 
down  in  the  yard.  This  was  allowed  and  I  rested  on 
the  ground  until  daybreak,  when  I  started  on  and  rode 
all  day  until  nine  p.  m. 

I  reached  the  Rapidan  river,  near  Orange  Court 
House  and  here  met  Jackson's  army  retreating  from 
the  field. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  63 

I  was  entirely  too  exhausted  to  go  any  further 
East,  even  if  I  had  been  permitted.  I  went  to  a  wheat 
stack,  about  200  yards  from  the  road  and,  tieing  my 
horse's  bridle  rein  to  my  foot,  lay  down  to  rest.  The 
army  was  passing  by  all  night.  At  daylight  I  went 
to  the  road  and  watched  for  someone  I  knew.  After 
a  while  Capt.  Hugh  Lee,  with  whom  my  brother  had 
served  on  Jackson's  Staff  rode  by.  He  told  me  that 
he  had  heard  from  my  brother  after  the  battle  and  that 
he  was  not  hurt.  I  was  much  encouraged  by  this  state- 
ment, but  waited  for  my  brother's  Regiment  the  10th 
Infantry,  which  was  covering  the  retreat  of  the  army, 
to  come  up.  Near  nine  o'clock,  I  recognized  the  Regi- 
ment coming  and  soon  my  brother's  Company  came  on, 
and  I  knew  some  of  the  men  and  rushed  into  the  line 
and  asked  about  him.  They  were  strangely  silent  at 
first,  but  finally  one  of  the  men  told  me  that  he  was 
dead  and  buried.  I  could  not  believe  it.  Capt.  Lee 
had  told  me  that  he  was  not  hurt.  I  followed  along  with 
the  men  and  questioned  them  until  finally  and  very 
reluctantly  I  was  forced  to  accept  it  as  the  truth.  But 
for  years  afterwards  I  felt  almost  half  of  the  time  he 
was  not  dead. 

While  on  Sick  Leave 

About  the  first  of  January,  1863,  being  sick  at 
Uncle  Peter  Mauley's  and  unable  for  field  service,  I 
was  asked  by  a  Mr.  Grant,  who  operated  a  large  tobacco 
factory  in  Columbia,  to  help  him  out,  by  taking  the 
management  of  the  factory  temporarily. 

I  was  not  a  practical  manager,  being  only  a  boy, 


64  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

and  never  having  governed  so  large  a  number  of  work- 
men. There  about  100  in  all.  There  were  all  negroes, 
and  all  slaves.  About  half  of  them  boys  and  men,  and 
the  other  half  women  and  girls.  They  made  cheap 
grades  of  tobacco  for  the  most  part.  I  had  charge  of 
the  factory  for  about  six  weeks. 

At  this  time  the  currency  of  our  part  of  the  country 
was  getting  to  be  very  bad.  On  account  of  the  blockad- 
ing of  our  ports  we  could  get  very  little  in  by  sea. 
Arms  and  ammunition  were  only  obtained  by  taking 
the  most  fearful  risks.  Large  numbers  of  men  spent 
all  their  time  in  smuggling  quinine  through  the  lines. 
We  probably  lost  thousands  of  lives  in  the  swamp  land 
of  the  peninsula  for  the  lack  of  this  drug  and  so  the 
most  strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  obtain  it. 

Running  the  lines  was  a  very  dangerous  occupa- 
tion. To  be  captured  inside  of  the  enemy's  lines  meant 
certain  death.  Often  times  the  men  so  caught,  and  shot 
had  run  the  risk  for  no  other  reason  than  that  tliej^  might 
relieve  their  suffering  comrades.  The  surgeons  in  our 
ho.spitals  ran  short  of  quinine  and  they  knew  of  no  other 
substitute  for  it. 

About  this  time  I  went  to  LjTichburg  and  was 
there  for  about  four  weeks,  working  in  a  cigar  shop 
to  pay  my  board. 

On  a  Long  Hike 

Learning  that  General  Imboden  contemplated  a  raid 
into  North  "West  Virginia,  and  hoping  to  be  able  to 
join  it  in  time,  I  set  out  for  Staunton,  Virginia,  though 
I  could  get  no  certain  knowledge  of  where  the  expedi- 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  65 

tion  would  start  and  really  was  not  physically  able  to 
go,  but  I  was  so  anxious    to  see  my  folks  that  I  started. 

After  reaching  Staunton  I  learned  that  General 
Imboden  was  somewhere  to  the  West.  The  next  morn- 
ing I  started  out  and  on  reaching  Millboro,  the  terminus 
of  the  road,  learned  that  Imboden  was  still  West  of 
there.  His  movements  were  uncertain  so  I  pressed  on, 
walking  until  I  got  to  Lewisburg,  nearly  100  miles  over 
the  mountains.  I  was  very  lame.  There  I  found  Im- 
boden, who  had  returned  from  the  raid.  He  had  gone 
as  far  as  Buckhannon.  There  was  some  little  fighting, 
a  few  lost,  some  prisoners  and  horses  captured  but  after 
talking  with  the  General,  I  judged  from  his  conversation 
that  the  expedition  was  almost  barren  of  results. 

The  reason  for  my  wanting  to  go  on  the  raid  was 
that  I  might  have  been  able  to  see  my  people  for  a  few 
hours  and  I  could  have  gotten  a  good  horse. 

Major  Lady 

On  the  train  from  Staunton  and  on  my  way  in 
hunt  of  Gen.  Imboden,  I  met  Maj.  John  B.  Lady.  He 
was  a  splendid  young  officer,  who  had  served  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war  in  the  Shriver  Greys,  27th  Virginia 
Infantry,  Stonewall  Jackson  Brigade. 

At  the  same  time  I  also  met  Harry  Caton,  one  of 
the  most  delightful  young  men  I  have  ever  known.  He 
had  been  a  member  of  Hood's  1st  Texas  Regiment. 
Harry  was  dreadfully  shot  to  pieces  at  the  battle  of 
Seven  Pines  and  left  on  the  field  for  dead. 

I  was  destined  to  become  very  closely  associated 
with  the  two  men  above  mentioned. 


66  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

Maj.  John  B.  Lady  was  just  then  starting  out  to 
form  what  became  the  Lady 's  Battalion  of  Cavalry.  This 
Battalion  was  afterwards  enlarged  and  became  the  20th 
Regiment  of  Cavalry,  commanded  by  Col.  Wm.  Arnett, 
Col.  John  B.  Lady  and  Maj.  Evans. 

I  Joined  Captain  HeiskelPs  Company 

Camp  was  established  on  Buck  Creek,  about  four 
miles  above  the  town  of  Huntersville  and  was  named 
Camp  Northwest. 

At  this  time.  Gen.  Wm.  Jackson,  who  had  been 
Colonel  of  the  31st  Virginia  Regiment  of  Infantry,  was 
forming  a  brigade  of  cavalry  and  the  19th  Regiment 
was  organized  soon  after  reaching  Camp  Northwest. 
Col,  Wm.  E.  Thompson,  former  Capt.  of  company  A, 
31st  Virginia,  was  a  Colonel.  I  cannot  recall  the  names 
of  the  other  field  officers. 

I  became  a  member  of  Capt.  Heiskells  Company  I, 
a  part  of  Lady's  Battalion.  I  was  elected  Second  Lieut, 
of  this  company  and  my  commission  came  in  from  the 
Secretary  of  War,  but  strange  to  say  I  only  served  a 
few  days  in  that  capacity.  A  young  man  from  Monroe 
County,  who  was  a  special  friend  of  some  of  the  officers 
and  men  of  the  regiment,  had  been  very  active  in  form- 
ing a  command  and  had  been  promised  a  commission. 
Two  weeks  previous  to  the  election  of  officers,  he  had 
been  home  and  told  his  family  and  friends  all  about  the 
matter,  and  no  doubt  posed  as  an  officer.  He  was  utterly 
disconsolate  when  he  heard  how  the  election  had  gone. 
He  cried  and  wept  sore  about  the  matter  and  said  he 
never  could  go  home  again.     I  felt  very  sorry  for  him. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  67 

Col.  Lady  asked  me  if  I  eared  very  much  for  the  place 
and  if  I  would  mind  giving  it  to  the  sorrowing  one.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  I  cared  little  or  nothing  about  the 
position  and  readily  agreed  that  if  the  matter  could  be 
arranged  with  the  men  and  with  the  War  Department, 
I  would  give  him  the  place. 

I  think  this  young  man  was  the  most  grateful  soul 
I  ever  saw.  He  overwhelmed  me  with  thanks  and 
promised  me  undying  friendship.  Poor  fellow,  he  was 
dreadfully  wounded  at  Droop  Mountain  and  incapacita- 
ted for  further  service. 

Recruiting 

The  summer  of  '63  wore  away  in  recruiting,  in 
drilling  and  in  scouting.  I  think  it  was  in  July  that 
I  was  sent  by  the  Colonel  to  open  a  recruiting  office  in 
Richmond.  I  was  there  five  or  six  weeks.  I  cannot 
remember  the  number  of  recruits  I  took  into  the  service, 
but  it  was  between  30  and  40.  A  few  of  these  I  got 
in  Rockingham  County,  where  I  spent  about  a  week. 

While  at  Harrisonburg,  I  was  sent  for  by  some  men 
at  the  county  jail.  I  went  around  there  supposing  that 
I  would  find  some  old  Army  acquaintances  that  had 
been  arrested,  but  I  did  not  find  anyone  that  I  knew. 

About  fifteen  men  belonging  to  Maj.  Harry  Gil- 
more 's  command  had  been  caught  drunk  and  the  town 
authorities  had  arrested  them  and  put  them  in  jail. 
They  all  declared  they  would  gladly  enlist  for  three 
years  in  the  20th  Regiment  if  I  would  promise  to  get 
them  out.  The  fact  is  that  I  did  not  want  them,  for 
more  than   one  reason.      They  were  already  mustered 


68  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

into  the  service  in  Gilmore's  Battalion  and  could  easily 
be  arrested  and  taken  from  us  or  they  could  as  easily 
have  deserted  and  gone  back  to  the  old  command,  and, 
after  looking  at  them  in  jail,  I  did  not  think  that  they 
would  add  much  lustre  to  the  Confederate  cause. 

A  New  Friend 

I  made  the  entire  trip  from  the  Valley  of  Virginia 
with  one  of  my  new  recruits  by  the  name  of  Blain.  He 
was  a  man  about  43  years  old,  weighed  about  215  pounds 
and  had  never  served  as  a  soldier.  This  man  had  an 
interesting  family  of  a  wife  and  five  children  and  I 
think  they  were  all  girls,  the  oldest  about  eighteen. 

When  we  were  at  Hightown,  before  we  had  gotten 
to  the  Regiment,  I  went  into  a  house  and  found  Blain 
there  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  He  was  wild  and 
about  fifty  men  around  the  house  and  yard  were  going 
to  kill  him.  They  said  he  had  made  some  insulting 
remarks  in  the  presence  of  one  of  the  ladies.  I  had 
promised  to  watch  and  take  care  of  him.  I  had  to 
shove  him  ahead  of  me  and  turn  and  keep  the  fellows 
back  until  I  got  him  outside  the  yard.  Blain  was  very 
willing  to  fight,  but  I  kept  them  off  him.  After  we  got 
outside  the  fence  I  persuaded  them  to  let  him  alone. 

I  might  say  right  here  that  Blain  did  not  live  a 
year,  but  it  was  whiskey  that  killed  him  and  not  an 
enemy  bullet. 

On  my  way  from  Richmond  after  I  got  to  Rock- 
ingham County,  Blain  and  I  came  "West  together  to 
Hightown.  He  had  a  very  good  horse  and  I  had  none, 
so  we  "rode  and  tied",  I  had  sent  the  other  men  on 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  69 

before  us  in  squads  of  from  four  to  eight  as  rapidly  as 
we  could  get  them  ready  to  start  to  the  command. 

At  Monterey  Again 

When  I  reached  Monterey,  court  was  in  session. 
There  were  a  great  many  people  in  town  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  soldiers  scattered  about  on  leave 
of  absense.  I  had  a  friend  there  John  Seybert  of  our 
old  regiment.  His  father  kept  the  principal  hotel  in 
the  town  and  John  was  home  on  furlough.  I  rode  up 
in  front  of  the  hotel  to  speak  to  John,  but  did  not  in- 
tend to  dismount.  He  insisted  that  I  get  down  and  eat 
dinner  with  him.  It  was  12  :30  and  I  was  always  hungry, 
but,  for  some  reason  or  other,  I  declined.  I  never  knew 
why  I  did,  but  I  started  on.  When  I  got  up  on  the 
side  of  the  mountain  and  looked  back  on  the  town,  2000 
Federal  Cavalry  had  swooped  down  on  the  town  and 
captured  it.  They  came  in  unexpectedly,  captured  the 
town  and  the  court  and  scattered  soldiers  and  citizens 
almost  without  any  resistance.  I  have  never  known  any 
good  reason  for  my  not  stopping  with  John  for  dinner, 
but  if  I  had  done  so  I  would  surely  have  been  captured 
or  maybe  killed  or  wounded. 

A  Run  for  the  Gap 

I  hurried  on  over  to  Hightown  and  found  my  Regi- 
ment under  Col.  Arnett  in  camp  there.  When  I  left 
the  camp  a  month  before  this  time  they  were  at  Camp 
Northwest  on  Buck  Creek,  three  miles  from  Hunters- 
ville,  the  county  seat  of  Pocahontas  County  and  18  miles 
from  Little  Levels.     Between  Monterey  and  Hightown 


70  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

there  is  a  mountain  six  miles  across.  It  lays  between 
the  two  and  the  only  available  crossing  is  a  gap.  The 
Federal  Commander  at  Monterey  knew  that  Col.  Arnett 
was  at  Hightown  with  500  men  and  if  he  could  get  to 
this  gap  first  and  cross  and  get  in  Arnett 's  rear  he  ought 
to  be  able  to  capture  the  whole  command. 

The  Federals  started  for  the  gap  as  hard  as  they 
could  go.  They  were  probably  30  minutes  ahead  of  us, 
but  as  soon  as  Arnett  saw  the  situation  he  ordered  the 
command  to  make  the  best  run  they  could  in  order  to 
beat  the  enemy  to  the  gap. 

I  think  we  galloped  about  six  miles  along  the  "West 
side  of  the  mountain,  while  the  enemy  was  coming  down 
the  East  side  of  the  mountain  to  the  gap.  We  beat 
them  to  it  and  got  away  from  them,  but  they  came 
through  the  gap  that  night  and  the  next  day  followed 
us  down  Buck  Creek  and  in  the  afternoon  we  had  a 
sharp  fight  with  them. 

After  Deserters 

While  we  were  at  Camp  Northwest,  Col.  Lady  sent 
for  me  one  evening  and  told  me  that  he  had  ordered 
Lieut.  Steve  Rice  and  mj^self  to  go  that  night  up  to 
the  summit  of  the  Alleghany  mountain  and  catch  and 
bring  back  six  deserters.  He  thought  that,  as  they  were 
on  foot,  we  might  intercept  them  before  they  reached 
the  summit  of  the  mountain.  To  be  plain  about  it,  I 
did  not  like  the  job,  for  four  of  these  men  were  old 
Louisiana  Tigers  who  had  joined  after  the  Tigers  were 
disbanded.  I  could  not  decline  the  honor,  although  we 
both  expected  to  be  shot  from  ambush  as  we  went  up 
the  mountain. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  11 

We  reached  the  mountain  top  about  10:00  o'clock 
at  night.  The  pickets  said  that  they  had  neither  seen 
or  heard  anything  of  our  men.  After  waiting  an  hour 
we  started  back  and  when  we  reached  camp,  found 
that  the  deserters  had  decided  to  return  to  camp  and 
had  gotten  back  there  before  we  did. 

These  Tigers  were  bad  men  in  almost  every  way 
and  averse  to  any  kind  of  discipline,  but  they  could 
always  be  depended  on  in  a  scrap  to  do  the  most  des- 
perate and  fool-hardy  things  that  could  be  thought  of. 

A  Bad  Ford 

Following  the  gallop  we  made  with  Col.  Arnett 
to  reach  the  pass  before  the  enemy  reached  it,  we  had 
almost  a  day  of  skirmishing  with  the  same  force  that 
had  followed  us  from  just  below  Hightown. 

Late  in  the  evening  and  when  we  were  about  14 
miles  from  Camp  Northwest,  Blain  and  I  turned  off 
the  road  to  the  left  to  find  something  to  eat  and  a  bed 
to  sleep  in  if  we  could. 

Two  or  three  miles  away  we  found  a  very  good 
place  to  stay  and  not  only  a  good  bed  but  an  excellent 
and  plentiful  supply  of  food.  I  think  I  never  have 
eaten  more  greedily  than  I  did  that  night  and  next 
morning.  There  was  a  great  rain  during  the  night  and 
next  morning  the  creek  banks  were  full.  About  three 
or  four  miles  from  where  we  staid  all  night  we  came 
to  a  ford.  I  was  riding  Blain 's  horse  and  he  went  on 
down  the  creek  to  a  foot  bridge  which  was  in  sight.  I 
rode  boldly  into  the  creek  not  knowing  that  the  ground 
had  been  washed  out  of  the  road  under  the  water  at 


72  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

the  ford,  and  the  second/  step  my  horse  took  into  the 
water  he  went  over  his  head  and  almost  turned  a  sum- 
mersault. I  was  in  a  great  torrent  of  water  and  was 
washed  down  fifty  feet  below  the  ford  under  a  great 
bank  in  a  whirlpool.  I  remember  that  the  horse  turned 
around  in  the  pool  three  times  before  he  could  force 
his  way  out  into  the  stream  again.  Finally  we  got 
out  and  made  a  landing  on  the  other  side.  "We  were 
soon  joined  by  Blain.  By  this  time  I  had  taken  a 
violent;  case  of  colic  and  I  know  that  for  about  eight 
hours  my  suffering  was  greater  than  I  have  ever  ex- 
perienced in  my  life.  My  friend  held  me  on  the  horse 
for  one-third  of  a  mile  by  which  time  we  came  to  a  very 
good  farm  house.  This  house  had  its  gable  to  the  road, 
but  a  long  porch  on  the  East  side.  Blain  was  going  to 
take  me  in  and  lay  me  on  the  porch,  but  a  middle  aged 
woman  came  out  and  insisted  that  I  should  not  come 
in  the  yard  even,  that  I  had  small  pox  (my  face  was 
very  red.)  My  friend  took  me  on  the  porch  in  spite 
of  what  the  woman  said  and  laid  me  down  and  then 
started  to  Camp,  which  was  about  eight  miles,  for  the 
surgeon  of  my  regiment  and  an  ambulance. 

I  suppose  I  laid  on  the  porch  about  an  hour  with- 
out any  attention  when  a  grand-daughter  of  the  house 
came  over  on  an  errand  and  spied  me  lying  there.  The 
old  lady  forbid  her  going  near  me  and  told  her  she  was 
sure  I  had  small  pox^  but  the  girl  said  to  her.  "It 
would  be  a  shame  to  let  one  of  our  soldiers  die  here 
without  giving  all  the  attention  we  can."  The  young 
lady  was  a  stout,  good-looking  girl,  about  eighteen  years 
of  age  She  put  her  hands  under  my  arms  after  raising 
my  head  and  clasped  her  hands  under  my  neck  and 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  73 

dragged  me  in  the  house  to  the  hearth  of  a  big  fire 
place.  She  soon  had  a  great  fire  burning,  had  me  wrap- 
ped up  in  blankets  and  was  giving  me  several  kinds  of 
hot  tea  and  continued  to  bring  me  to  life.  The  Surgeon 
and  nurse  reached  me  about  four  o'clock.  I  was  very 
much  easier.  I  think  without  any  doubt  the  young 
lady  saved  my  life. 

After  reaching  camp  it  was  several  days  before  I 
was  able  to  walk  about. 

Not  long  after  this  and  while  we  were  still  at  Camp 
Northwest,  I  learned  that  about  25  of  our  fellows  from 
Harrison  County  had  just  run  the  blockade  and  had 
come  to  join  us. 

I  got  myself  appointed  to  go  down  to  Little  Levels, 
eighteen  miles  below,  to  meet  and  bring  the  boys  into 
camp.  There  was,  as  I  remember,  just  eighteen.  Among 
these  men  was  a  notable  man  from  Wood  county,  about 
Parkersburg.  He  was  a  large,  heavy  man  and  weighed 
about  240  pounds.  These  men  were  a  part  of  the  force 
brought  through  the  lines  by  Maj.  Armsby,  of  Harrison 
county  and  who  became  the  Maj.  of  the  17th  Virginia 
Cavalry.  Armsby  was  soon  after  this  captured  and 
sentenced  to  death  as  a  spy. 

In  some  matters  that  occurred  in  1864,  I  will  tell 
how  it  came  about  that  the  Major  was  released. 

Trying  to  Get  Back  Home 

Some  time  after  the  battle   of   Droop   Mountain, 

the  command  came  back  to  Camp  Northwest.     I  went 

to  Gen.  "W.  L.  Jackson  and  obtained  permission  to  make 

(      a  scout  as  far  west  as  Harrison  county,  where  my  father 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


lived.  I  agreed  to  take  nine  men  with  me  and  get  them 
mounts  on  the  trip. 

Harry  Caton,  m}'  old  friend  of  the  1st  Texas  regi- 
ment was  one  of  the  men  and  the  one  I  depended  upon 
more  than  any  of  the  others.  He  was  a  Wheeling  boy 
and  some  three  years  before  the  war  had  gone  to  Texas 
and  served  in  the  Rangers  for  some  time.  When  the 
war  came  on  he  was  in  Mexico  City  but  immediately 
came  back  to  Texas  and  joined  Col.  John  B.  Hood's 
1st  regiment  and  went  to  Virginia.  I  think  I  menti- 
oned this  before. 

He  had  been  spending  the  night  before  the  battle 
of  Seven  Pines  in  Richmond,  but  early  on  the  morning 
of  the  fight  he  went  down  to  camp  and  finding  that  the 
regiment  had  moved  forward  toward  the  enemy,  he 
hastened  on  and  arrived  just  as  they  were  lining  up 
for  the  fray.  He  had  not  intended  to  see  Col.  Hood 
just  then,  but  unexpectedly  ran  into  the  head  of  the 
command  just  as  they  were  deploying.  The  Col.  rec- 
ognized him  at  once  and  spoke  sharply  to  him  about 
being  awaj'  without  leave.  Harry  made  the  best  excuse 
he  could  and  asked  permission  to  take  part  in  this  little 
tea  party. 

That  day  he  was  fearPully  wounded,  being  shot 
in  the  breast  and  side.  He  was  half  mile  from  the  road, 
when  wounded,  and  after  some  hours  he  realized  that 
he  would  die  there  or  bleed  to  death  before  being  found. 
He  crawled  through  the  brii^h  and  the  woods  suffering 
horribly  until  he  reached  a  place  where  he  could  see 
or  hear  the  wagons  hauling  the  wounded  off. 

He  finally  attracted  attention  and  was  carried  to 
the  field  hospital,  but  when  the  surgeons  saw  him  they 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY    CAMMACK 


declined  to  dress  his  wounds,  because  they  felt  his  case 
was  hopeless  and  they  had  only  time  to  give  attention 
to  men  who  might  recover.  Caton  insisted  that  he  would 
get  well  and  finally  had  his  wounds  dressed.  He  was 
soon  on  the  way  to  recovery  and  was  sent  up  the  James 
river  where  he  got  strong  again. 

He  was  one  of  the  bravest  men  I  ever  knew,  a 
natural-born  getntlemazi,  kind  and  generous.  I  met 
him  in  the  Spring  of  '63  as  I  have  already  mentioned 
and  we  became  fast  friends,  so  I  got  permission  to  go 
on  this  scout  in  order  to  see  the  home  folks  and  inciden- 
tally to  find  some  horses  for  the  men,  and  I  took  Caton 
with  me.  We  left  Little  Levels  and  were  gone  a  month 
and  five  days. 

Incidents  of  the  Trip 

I  will  only  mention  a  few  of  the  incidents  of  our 
trip.  The  whole  trip  had  plenty  of  action  and  excite- 
ment about  it.  I  might  say  now  that  we  lost  two  of 
our  number,  captured,  we  supposed. 

In  Lewis  and  Harrison  Counties  we  were  compelled 
to  separate,  though  Harry  and  I  stayed  together  except 
for  five  days  once  when  I  was  sick  and  had  a  high 
fever. 

I  had  a  map  of  the  roads  in  two  or  three  counties 
and  they  were  quite  intelligible  to  us.  The  principal 
roads  were  marked  showing  us  the  houses  of  Southern 
people  and  also  a  different  mark  on  Union  houses.  Of 
course  we  were  obliged  to  keep  off  the  roads  for  the 
most  part  but  we  kept  in  sight  of  them. 

On  one  occasion,  we  had  crossed  a  tall  mountain 
and  left  the  road  a  long  way  on  our  right,  as  we  sup- 


76  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

posed,  but  when  we  got  over  the  mountam  in  sight  of 
the  valley  and  road  we  could  not  determine  where  we 
were.  We  saw  a  large  farm  house  one  half  mile  below 
us,  but  could  not  tell  from  our  maps  who  lived  there, 
nor  whether  it  would  be  safe  to  go  down. 

It  was  my  turn  to  go  and  find  out.  I  took  off  my 
uniform  jacket  and  left  my  short  cavalry  rifle  with 
Caton.  When  I  started  down  I  had  on  an  old  straw 
hat,  pants  and  shirt,  the  pants  held  up  by  a  pair  of 
yarn  galluses.  I  am  sure  I  looked  green  enough.  I 
went  in  the  back  way  and  found  a  woman  churning. 
She  was  a  very  intelligent  looking  person  and  I  felt 
that  she  was  suspicious  of  men  the  instant  she  saw  me. 
She  inquired  who  I  was  and  where  I  lived.  I  told  her 
I  worked  for  Mr.  Smith  on  the  other  side  of  the  moun- 
tain and  that  he  had  sent  me  down  to  the  mouth  of  this 
creek  to  bring  back  a  steer.  The  woman  looked  sharply 
at  me  and  I  knew  that  I  was  under  suspicion.  She  told 
the  girl  to  give  me  a  cup  of  water,  then  told  me  to  go 
out  the  way  I  came  in,  to  go  down  the  meadow  and 
then  cross  over  to  the  big  road.  I  started,  but  decided 
to  go  up  the  hill  the  way  I  came.  She  called  to  me  in 
a  minute  or  two  and  asked  me  why  I  didn't  go  the  way 
she  told  me.  I  told  her  that  I  thought  the  other  way 
was  closer.  I  am  sure  that  she  thought  that  I  was  a 
green  boy  and  it  didn't  matter. 

I  started  again  and  went  by  the  way  of  the  front 
porch,  the  very  thing  I  did  not  want  to  do.  I  found 
that  on  that  porch  sat  two  Yankee  soldiers  in  uniform. 
However  I  was  in  for  it  and  I  slouched  along  across 
the  yard  and  they  did  not  speak  to  me.     I  thought  at 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  77 

the  time  that  it  was  a  close  shave,  for  I  had  no  arms 
to  defend  myself  with  but  they  happened  not  to  suspect 
me. 

Two  nights  before  this  incident  we  stopped  in  front 
of  a  large  farm  house  and  we  knew  the  man  who  lived 
there  was  named  Wilson,  a  friend.  It  was  about  1 :30 
A.  M.  and  the  moon  was  shining  brightly.  I  went  up 
on  the  porch  and  tapped  on  the  window  several  times 
before  anyone  answered.  At  last  a  rough  voice  called 
from  an  upper  window  to  know  who  we  were  and  what 
we  wanted.  We  finally  persuaded  him  down  stairs  and 
talked  with  him  some  time,  but  could  not  convince  him 
that  we  were  all  0.  K.  He  told  us  we  could  go  down 
to  the  barn  and  stay  until  morning,  when  he  would 
come  down  and  take  a  look  at  us  and  if  he  could  help 
us  he  would.  The  fact  of  the  matter  was  it  was  a  ground 
hog  case  with  us,  we  had  to  have  assistance  from  him. 
We  were  finally  forced  to  go  to  the  barn  and  burro 
down  in  a  haymow  to  keep  warm.  The  next  morning 
about  sunrise,  Mr.  Wilson  came  down  to  the  barn  floor 
accompanied  by  two  dogs.  He  wanted  us  to  get  down 
on  the  floor  quickly.  This  we  did  and  he  looked  us  over 
critically.  The  dogs  in  the  meantime  appeared  very 
friendly  to  us.  Finally  he  said,  ''come  on  up  to  the 
house  to  breakfast,  I  am  satisfied  you  are  alright,  if 
you  were  Yankees  I  couldn't  keep  those  dogs  off  you." 
We  had  a  good  breakfast  and  went  up  the  hollow  and 
laid  under  the  trees  until  dinner. 

After  dinner  we  got  our  bearings  and  went  to  the 
top  of  the  ridge  or  mountain  between  the  two  small 
valleys.  We  were  to  follo^v  the  ridge  about  eight  miles 
to  near  the   mouth   of   Hacker's    Creek.      About   four 


7S  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

o'clock  we  decided  that  we  had  tramped  far  enough  to 
have  found  this  creek,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact  we  were 
lost  and  did  not  know  where  we  were. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  I  went  down  in  the  valley 
and  had  the  experience,  disguised  as  a  farmer  boy,  as 
before  mentioned. 

After  I  had  taken  the  route  that  the  woman  had 
pointed  out  to  me,  through  the  front  yard,  I  went  on 
to  the  road  and  down  about  a  mile  and  crossed  over 
making  a  long  detour  and  reached  my  friend  Caton 
again. 

My  Father's  House 

We  reached  a  house  of  a  friend  of  the  South  about 
eleven  o'clock  that  night.  We  had  little  difficulty  in 
convincing  him  as  to  who  we  were  and  after  a  hearty 
meal  with  him  and  his  family  he  brought  out  a  couple 
of  horses  and  took  us  several  miles  on  our  road  and 
within  about  six  or  seven  miles  of  my  father's  house. 

We  reached  father's  house  about  three  o'clock  A. 
M.  He  lived  about  a  half  mile  from  a  little  place  called 
Johnstown.  There  were  some  200  Yankees  camping 
as  close  to  the  town  as  my  father's  house.  They  were 
not  regular  soldiers,  but  belonged  to  a  set  of  men  that 
were  mean  and  cowardly  in  the  extreme.  They  were 
not  looking  for  soldiers  to  oppose,  but  sought  every  op- 
portunity to  abuse  women  and  children  or  helpless  and 
crippled  men.  Thej'-  often  arrested  such  as  these,  took 
them  to  Clarksburg,  appeared  before  the  commandant 
preferring  usually  trumped  up  charges  and  had  the 
poor  victims  sent  to  camp  Chase. 


1 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  79 

In  this  county  of  Harrison,  a  large  number  of 
people  who  were  not  guilty  of  any  wrong  doing,  lost 
their  lives  from  the  inhuman  treatment  accorded  by 
the  Home  Guards. 

I  remember  the  incidents  of  this  home  coming  as 
well  as  if  it  had  occurred  only  yesterday. 

There  was  a  beautiful  September  moon  shining 
in  all  its  cloudless  brilliancy.  We  went  very  quietly, 
my  comrade  Caton  and  I,  but  when  we  had  reached 
the  barn,  only  about  one  hundred  yards  from  the  house, 
my  dog  Tige  set  up  a  furious  barking.  I  knew  his  voice. 
This  was  the  only  dog  I  ever  owned  and  the  only  one 
I  was  ever  fond  of.  He  was  a  white  bull  dog.  I  called 
in  a  low  voice  to  the  dog  and  after  a  short  time  he  rec- 
ognized me.  I  never  have  known  an  animal  to  exhibit 
as  much  joy  as  he  did  when  he  found  out  who  I  was. 

"We  finally  went  up  to  the  house  and  I  went  to  the 
door  and  knocked.  I  heard  father  and  mother  talking, 
she  evidently  trying  to  keep  him  from  going  to  the  door. 
Finally  as  I  was  persistent  in  wanting  to  get  in,  father 
got  up  and  asked  again,  "who  is  there,  what  is  your 
name?"  I  asked  him  if  he  had  a  son  in  the  army  and 
told  him  that  I  brought  a  message  from  him.  Just  then 
my  mother  said,  ' '  Oh !  it  is  Henry. ' '  She  knew  my 
voice. 

I  got  in  the  house.  They  made  no  light  because 
some  soldiers  were  around  the  house  an  hour  before  and 
they  were  afraid. 

My  brother  George,  was  about  17  years  old  at  this 
time,  he  surprised  me  by  running  in  and  calling  to  me, 
"Henry,  are  you  a  deserter?"  I  said  that  I  was  not. 
Then  he  said,  "If  you  are  there  is  the  door,  we  don't 


so  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

want  a  deserter  in  this  house."  The  reason  he  said 
this  was  that  a  good  many  fellows  in  the  county  had 
gotten  tired  and  discouraged  in  the  Southern  army  and 
had  come  back  home  and  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  U.  S.  Government.  This  they  were  obliged  to  do 
or  go  to  prison. 

An  Unusual  Introduction 

I  greeted  all  the  family  most  heartily  and  among 
them  a  young  lady,  Miss  Mary  Fox,  who  was  teaching 
school  in  the  village  and  boarding  at  father's  house. 
She  was  a  Southern  girl,  a  native  of  Culpeper  County, 
Virginia,  the  daughter  of  a  widow  then  living  a  few 
miles  from  Johntown.  She  had  a  brother,  Mr.  T.  S. 
Fox,  in  the  17th  Virginia  Cavalry.  This  lady  became 
my  wife  after  the  war  in  the  fall  of  1866,  October  7th. 

We  have  often  laughed  about  my  kissing  her  among 
others  at  home,  before  I  ever  saw  her. 

In  a  few  minutes  my  mother  asked  me  where  my 
brother  Lucius  was.  I  then  realized  that  she  did  not 
know  of  his  death,  which  had  taken  place  more  than  a 
year  before  in  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain.  She  had 
at  different  times  heard  of  the  death  of  both  of  us,  but 
did  not  know  that  my  brother  had  actually  fallen. 

We  slept  about  three  or  four  hours  in  a  thicket  of 
trees  not  far  from  the  house  and  my  father  came  in  the 
morning  and  brought  out  breakfast.  We  stayed  there 
several  days  and  nights,  but  never  sleeping  in  the  house 
and  seldom  spending  an  hour  there  because  they  were 
constantly  watched  and  it  would  have  meant  prison  or 
death  for  the  whole  family  if  we  had  been  found  there. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  81 

Miss  Fox,  who  is  uow  my  wife,  made  me  a  pair 
of  pants  and  father  had  me  a  pair  of  excellent  boots 
made  and  in  other  ways  my  wardrobe  was  improved 
and  we  were  well  rested  and  better  able  for  our  trip 
back  to  "Dixie".  We  were  about  150  miles  from  our 
lines.  The  children  at  home  were  all  old  enough  to 
be  told  who  I  was  but  one,  Nellie  about  four  years  old. 
She  understood  me  to  be  Mr.  Jones  from  Clarksburg. 

The  night  came  for  us  to  leave  and  Harry  and  I 
determined  to  eat  supper  with  the  family  about  10:30. 
We  had  a  delicious  supper,  but  I  had  very  little  appe- 
tite, but  at  last  the  good  bye  and  God  Speeds  were  said 
and  we  started.  We  were  compelled  to  tramp  through 
the  woods  and  fields  so  as  to  avoid  meeting  people. 

In  a  Nest  of  Yankees 

One  incident  that  occurred  about  two  weeks  before 
we  went  to  my  father's  house,  I  think  is  worth  telling. 
Up  in  Lewis  County  near  the  edge  of  Webster,  was  a 
family  by  the  name  of  St.  John.  We  had  their  name 
on  paper  or  map  as  good  people  for  us  to  see.  The 
father  was  dead,  the  only  son  was  in  our  army  in  the 
19th  Cavalry. 

The  family  at  this  time  consisted  of  the  mother 
and  two  daughters.  Before  reaching  their  place,  my 
friend  Caton,  had  gone  down  near  Milford  and  was 
taken  sick.  A  sympathizer  was  taking  care  of  him.  I 
was  up  in  the  St.  John's  neighborhood,  being  in  the 
great  hollow  of  a  burnt  out  poplar  tree.  I  could  not 
afford  to  ask  them  to  keep  me  at  the  house  because  there 
was  too  much  chance  of  being  discovered.    The  Federals 


82  PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

had  at  this  time  1000  or  1500  men  camped  within  two 
miles  of  the  St.  John's  home.  I  was  taken  sick  with 
some  kind  of  fever  and  was  very  bad.  Both  of  the  St. 
Johns  girls  came  up  in  the  woods  and  brought  me  food 
and  bed  cover  and  later  such  medicine  as  their  mother 
thought  might  help  me. 

I  was  there  sick  about  six  days.  I  began  to  feel 
much  better  and  was  so  awfully  lonesome  there  in  the 
woods  by  myself,  I  was  willing  to  risk  almost  anything 
to  be  with  human  beings  again.  About  sundown  one 
evening,  when  I  was  feeling  this  way,  I  slipped  down 
through  the  woods  and  crosed  the  road  and  went  to  the 
barn.  Mrs.  St.  John  had  seen  me  in  the  barn  yard 
and  as  two  soldiers  had  just  called  there  to  stay  all 
night  she  slipped  down  to  tell  me  to  hide,  as  these  men 
would  soon  be  at  the  barn  to  put  their  horses  away. 

They  came  down  and  fed  their  horses,  I  being 
in  another  part  of  the  barn  and  very  careful  to  not 
discover  myself  to  them. 

About  9 :00  o  'clock,  I  went  up  to  the  house  and 
looking  in  the  window  could  see  none  but  the  ladies. 
I  decided  that  these  soldiers  had  gone  to  bed  and  I 
walked  in  to  the  sitting  room.  The  ladies  were  fright- 
ened at  my  coming  in.  They  were  afraid  the  soldiers 
would  come  out  in  the  room  and  finding  me  there,  make 
trouble. 

I  sat  with  the  folks  about  one  and  one  half  hours 
and  then  went  to  bed  in  the  room  next  to  where  these 
soldiers  were  sleeping,  but  they  never  suspected  my 
presence.  I  remained  in  bed  until  after  these  men  had 
breakfasted  and  left  the  place  next  morning. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  83 

In  a  couple  of  days  after  this  I  got  with  Harry 
again  and  made  the  visit  home,  as  I  have  already  told. 

After  leaving  home,  in  a  couple  of  nights  we  had 
gone  into  the  upper  part  of  Lewis  county  and  not  far 
from  the  head  waters  of  Hackers  Creek. 

Harry  and  I  separated  for  a  few  days,  about  this 
time.  He  went  a  few  miles  from  me  to  stay  with  a 
southerner  who  had  invited  him,  and  I  was  for  several 
days  about  one  mile  from  the  farm  house,  where  I  had 
gone  to  seek  information  about  our  road.  The  woman's 
sons  were  still  at  home  on  furlough  for  I  saw  them  both, 
although  I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  tell  them  I  was 
there  watching  them. 

When  we  first  came  into  Upshur  or  Lewis  counties, 
I  can't  remember  which,  we  mounted  six  of  the  eight 
men  we  had  with  us.  Two  of  the  men  were  either  cap- 
tured or  deserted,  we  never  knew  which.  I  wanted  the 
men  we  had  brought  from  Camp  mounted  and  sent  back 
before  we  went  into  Harrison  County  to  see  my  father. 
The  six  men  we  sent  back  arrived  safely  in  camp  some- 
time before  we  did.  I  was  the  guest  of  an  excellent 
fellow,  who  fed  me  well  and  watched  for  me  around 
the  thicket  where  I  was  hidden.  This  would  have  been 
much  more  lonesome  and  trying  to  me,  but  fortunately 
my  host  had  some  confidential  friends,  who  wanted  to 
hear  from  some  of  the  boys  in  our  army,  and  he  brought 
them  to  me. 

Finally  Harry  and  I  communicated  with  each 
other,  agreed  to  leave  for  dixie  on  a  certain  night.  At 
the  same  time  a  man  by  the  name  of  Rinehart  had  seen 
us  once  and  later  sent  us  word  he  wanted  to  go  with 
us  to  Dixie.     I  had  arranged  for  my  horse,  which  was 


84  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

in  fact  a  beautiful  browu  mare.  I  went  after  her  about 
8 :30  in  the  evening.  I  went  to  the  place  where  the  two 
soldiers  were  on  a  furlough.  All  the  family  seemed 
to  be  boiling  sugar  cane.  The  man  I  had  with  me  went 
into  the  meadow  within  twenty-five  yards  of  the  group 
at  the  fire. 

"Borrowing"  a  Horse 

I  do  not  now  and  have  never  defended  the  mor- 
ality of  this  act  of  mine  except  on  the  ground  of  neces- 
sity. We  were  almost  literally  surrounded  by  enemies 
at  this  time,  we  were  about  135  miles  from  our  lines 
and  I  think  the  chances  for  our  escape  from  them  de- 
pended almost  solely  on  the  horse  that  I  borrowed  of 
that  farmer. 

I  can  truthfully  assert  in  addition  that  I  never  took 
anything  of  value  from  a  non-combatant  except  in  this 
case. 

After  getting  my  horse  I  rode  her  bareback  about 
three  quarters  of  a  mile  to  a  place  where  I  found  Caton 
and  Rinehart,  both  of  them  well  mounted.  Rinehart 
had  been  hurried  almost  to  death  for  six  weeks,  running 
from  one  cover  to  another  to  escape  capture.  I  should 
have  said  that  in  going  to  our  rendezvous,  I  had  gotten 
into  the  main  road  about  one  half  mile  from  the  place 
where  Caton  was  staying.  Just  before  reaching  the 
front  of  the  house  I  heard  horsemen  on  a  trot  meeting 
me.  I  could  not  afford  to  be  captured,  but  I  could  not 
turn  and  ride  away,  because  I  did  not  know  where  the 
road  would  take  me  and  I  feared  I  would  meet  people 
I  didn't  want  to  see. 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY    CAMMACK  85 

The  barn  stood  between  the  house  and  the  road. 
Instead  of  a  big  gate  there  were  old  fashioned  bars  open- 
ing to  the  road  and  knowing  that  in  another  minute  I 
would  meet  these  men,  the  only  safe  thing  to  do  was 
to  get  through  into  the  barnyard  thence  into  the  meadow 
at  the  other  end  of  which  behind  a  clump  of  willows 
I  was  to  find  Caton  and  Rinehart.  My  mare  jumped 
the  bars  without  any  difficulty.  Before  I  was  out  of 
the  barn  yard  the  men  behind  me  either  didn't  care 
to  make  the  jump  or  decided  to  let  me  run  down  the 
meadow  and  catch  me  when  I  would  attempt  to  come 
out  in  the  road  at  the  lower  end  of  the  meadow. 

I  galloped  down  to  the  willows  and  finding  the 
men  ready,  we  hastened  back  and  went  through  the 
bars  and  started  South.  Pretty  soon  the  Federals  found 
we  had  taken  a  turn  on  them.  They  about  faced  and 
followed.  About  a  mile  from  the  barn  we  turned  sharp- 
ly to  the  left,  but  they  continued  to  follow  us.  A  mile 
farther  on  we  turned  off  the  road  to  the  right  and  struck 
the  mountain  trail. 

Getting  Back  to  Our  Lines 

I  have  never  known  a  man  who  was  so  good  a 
woodsman  as  Harry  Caton.  The  night  had  become 
dark  and  it  was  raining  and  we  were  following  a  mere 
trail.  There  was  scarcely  a  path  across  the  mountain, 
and  yet  this  man  seemed  instinctively  to  know  the  way. 
The  enemy  was  still  following  us,  but  I  think  on  this 
mountain  trail  they  were  moving  more  slowly  than  we 
were. 

A  few  miles  from  where  we  struck  the  trail,  w« 
ran  into  a  big  tree  that  had  fallen  across  the  path. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 


Caton  was  riding  in  front.  He  dismounted  and  felt 
his  way  to  me  and  gave  me  his  bridle  while  he  scouted 
around  the  tree  to  try  to  locate  the  trail.  It  was  so 
dark  that  I  could  see  nothing,  but  in  about  fifteen 
minutes  Harry  came  back  and  reported  that  he  had 
found  the  trail.  About  seven  o'clock  the  next  morning 
we  found  ourselves  in  front  of  a  raging  little  river  that 
had  been  swollen  by  recent  rains  until  it  could  not 
be  forded. 

We  held  a  council  of  war  and  decided  that  the 
Yankees  would  in  all  probability  be  there  in  less  than 
one  half  an  hour  and  we  thought  it  safer  to  swim  rather 
than  to  risk  a  fight  with  them  as  there  were  too  many 
of  them.  We  plunged  our  horses  into  the  river  and 
finally  succeeded  in  landing  on  the  southern  bank  con- 
siderably below  where  we  started  in. 

We  were  then  in  a  wild  mountainous  part  of  Up- 
shur or  Webster  county,  I  could  not  be  certain  which 
it  was.  We  felt  little  fear  of  being  pursued  further 
than  the  river  we  had  crossed  as  we  believed  they  would 
not  follow  us  until  the  water  had  gone  down.  W^ 
learned  also  in  the  community  that  morning  that  there 
was  no  big  body  of  J'ederal  soldiers  in  that  part  of  the 
state,  so  we  rode  boldly  along  the  public  road  toward  the 
western  line  of  Pocahontas  County. 

We  found  our  horses  pretty  much  jaded  before 
one  o'clock  but  we  rested  them  some  and  got  some  food 
for  them  early  in  the  afternoon.  We  were  in  very  good 
shape  except  that  my  mare  was  barefooted  and  began 
to  go  lame  on  me.  I  took  part  of  the  old  quilt  on  which 
I  was  riding,  cut  off  pieces  and  bound  up  her  feet.   They 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY    CAMMACK 


were  worn  and  almost  bleeding.     This  had  to  be  repeat- 
ed many  times  before  we  reached  camp. 

We  felt  considerably  worried  about  three  o'clock 
when  we  heard  that  a  band  of  about  a  dozen  Yankees 
were  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  some  fifteen  miles  in 
front  of  us  and  over  which  we  were  compelled  to  pass. 
We  found  that  these  fellows  were  not  soldiers  but  a 
band  of  robbers,  being  deserters  from  both  the  Union 
and  Confederate  armies,  banded  together  for  robbery 
and  murder. 

A  Band  of  Robbers 

We  stopped  about  five  o'clock  at  the  house  of  a 
friendly  family  and  they  insisted  that  we  go  back  be- 
cause we  could  not  hope  to  pass  these  robbers  without 
losing  our  horses  and  money  and  possibly  our  lives.  We 
got  some  supper  and  fed  our  horses  and  planned  what 
we  should  do  the  next  morning.  Rinehart's  horse  had 
cast  a  shoe  and  as  there  was  no  blacksmith  except  right 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  we  were  in  a  quandary  as 
to  what  to  do. 

We  finally  decided  to  ride  up  there  in  the  morning 
and  Caton  and  I  would  dismount  leaving  our  horses 
outside  the  fence  and  we  would  go  up  to  the  house  and 
entertain  these  fellows  as  best  we  could  until  Rinehart 
would  signal  us  he  was  ready.  Then  we  were  to  leave 
if  we  could. 

I  had  a  short  cavalry  rifle  and  a  knife,  Harry  had 
a  short  rifle  and  a  pistol.  Rinehart  had  a  splendid 
pistol  which  I  tried  to  get  but  he  could  not  be  persuaded. 
Wlien  we  came  near  the  house  which  set  back  about  a 


88  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

hundred  yards  from  the  road  we  saw  four  men  walking 
about  on  the  green  in  front  of  the  huse.  We  knew  that 
we  could  not  afford  to  pass  without  stopping  so  when  we 
came  to  the  gate  we  told  Rinehart  to  go  on  to  the  shop 
and  have  his  work  done  and  we  would  go  up  and  see 
the  boys  and  be  ready  when  he  was. 

We  then  dismounted,  threw  our  bridle  reins  over 
a  couple  of  fence  posts  and  walked  in  and  spoke  to  these 
fellows  in  a  very  jocular  manner.  They  evidently  were 
not  expecting  this  sort  of  greeting.  They  doubtless 
knew  in  what  reputation  they  were  held  and  expected 
us  to  be  scared  (which  we  were).  The  morning  was 
beautiful.  We  thought  it  was  safe  to  venture  a  few 
pleasant  remarks  about  the  weather.  It  was  the  only 
topic  which  we  could  think  of  at  the  moment  to  speak 
about.  We  talked  in  just  a  casual  and  easy  way  though 
we  did  not  feel  easy.  I  thought  then  and  do  yet  that 
I  never  saw  a  meaner  looking  set  of  men.  They  were 
large  and  well  dressed  and  were  literally  walking  arsen- 
als. None  of  them  carried  less  than  two  pistols  and 
some  of  them  three,  and  each  man  had  a  big  gun  and  a 
knife.  And  more  than  that  they  looked  like  they  knew 
how  to  use  them. 

They  evidently  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  us. 
Anxious  to  know  how  many  there  were  of  them  alto- 
gether I  carelessly  remarked  that  I  would  step  in  the 
house  awhile  and  get  some  more  breakfast.  I  turned 
with  quite  a  swagger  and  went  up  to  the  house  and 
found  four  of  the  party  at  breakfast.  They  were  just 
as  mean  looking  as  the  other  three  and  were  just  as  well 
armed.  Just  as  I  entered  the  door  I  took  an  inventory 
of  the  men  an^  remarked  pleasantly  "hello  boys".    Al- 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY    CAMMACK 


most  before  they  had  time  to  speak  a  woman  came  in 
bringing  one  of  the  men  a  cup  of  coffee.  I  immediately 
reached  the  table  and  picked  up  the  cup  of  coffee  before 
the  man  had  a  chance  to  get  it.  I  remarked  as  I  picked 
it  up  that  I  thought  I  would  like  a  cup  of  coffee  as  my 
breakfast  had  been  rather  light. 

I  never  saw  a  man  look  more  surprised  and  they 
all  looked  in  wonder  at  one  another  and  then  at  me. 
They  all  got  angry  and  left  the  table.  Seeing  that  they 
were  going  out  of  doors  I  got  out  of  the  door,  meantime 
blowing  about  having  killed  three  Yankees  that  week 
and  that  I  was  mighty  fond  of  the  sport  and  that  the 
boys  with  me  liked  it  wonderfully  well  themselves. 

I  had  now  found  out  how  many  there  were  of  them, 
seven.  Both  of  us  knew  they  were  too  many  for  us 
even  if  we  had  been  as  well  armed  as  they  were.  We 
also  knew  that  we  could  not  count  on  Rinehart  and  be- 
sides he  was  more  than  a  hundred  yards  away  at  the 
blacksmiths,  and  we  had  no  way  of  knowing  whether  the 
blacksmith  was  for  us  or  against  us. 

There  seemed  nothing  else  for  us  to  do  but  bluff 
these  robbers  and  we  did  it.  We  invented  marvelous 
stories  of  fights  we  were  having  every  day.  It  worked. 
I  suppose  that  those  fellows  decided  that  if  they  at- 
tempted to  kill  us  and  take  our  horses  some  of  their 
number  would  be  killed.  We  kept  on  bragging  and 
watching  for  Einehart  to  signal  that  he  was  ready.  We 
were  getting  very  tired  and  running  out  of  stories,  and 
we  did  not  know  what  moment  those  fellows  might  de- 
cide to  begin  shooting.  Finally,  much  to  our  relief  we 
saw  Rinehart 's  signal.     We  knew  that  when  we  started 


90  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

away  it  would  be  the  crucial  moment  and  we  felt  anxi- 
ous to  have  it  over. 

We  did  not  exactly  back  out  of  the  yard  but  we 
talked  jovially  all  the  time  moving  slowly  toward  the 
gate.  When  we  had  gotten  through  and  mounted  our 
horses  we  started  off  laughing  and  calling  back  to  them 
as  though  we  were  enjoying  ourselves  hugely,  which 
we  were'nt.  To  our  great  surprise  they  did  not  attempt 
to  stop  us.  We  found  Rinehart  ready  and  mounted  and 
we  were  very  glad  to  leave. 

I  have  often  thought  of  this  circumstance  and  be- 
lieve so  far  as  personal  danger  was  concerned,  I  have 
never  experienced  a  worse  situation  than  this  one.  I 
think  our  bravado  and  apparent  unconcern  helped  us 
somewhat,  but  undoubtedly  we  were  taken  care  of  and 
protected  by  kind  providence.  These  men  were  lawless, 
were  deserters,  and  were  known  as  the  worst  type  of 
robbers.  We  were  told  that  they  did  not  hesitate  to 
commit  murder  yet  we  made  our  escape  without  a 
scratch. 

Our  return  to  camp  occupied  about  two  and  one 
half  days  and  was  a  hard  and  laborious  trip  for  our 
horses  and  ourselves.  We  were  almost,  famished  for  food 
before  we  reached  the  Little  Levels,  and  our  horses  were 
tired  out  and  weak  for  lack  of  food  and  their  feet  were 
so  sore  that  they  were  bleeding. 

In  a  couple  of  weeks  after  our  return  to  camp, 
Harry  Caton  received  word  from  his  sister  in  Wheeling 
to  come  to  that  city.  He  got  permission  to  make  an- 
other scout  into  West  Virgijiia.  He  was  of  a  very  ad- 
venturous disposition  and  he  went  alone. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  91 

We  know  very  little  as  to  what  happened  to  him 
before  his  capture  (for  he  was  captured)  and  almost 
nothing  as  to  what  occurred  afterwards. 

He  wrote  a  short  letter  to  Miss  Mary  J.  Fox,  from 
Wheeling.  It  seems  that  he  went  to  Wheeling  to  see 
his  sister  who  was  the  wife  of  the  Sheriff  of  the  county. 
Then  he  went  to  Cincinnati  and  back  by  steamer.  He 
started  from  Wheeling  south  and  somewhere  about 
Romney  he  was  captured  and  sent  to  prison  at  Point 
Lookout.  He  was  then  carried  to  Fortress  Monroe  on 
the  last  vessel  of  exchanged  prisoners  before  the  war 
ended. 

I  was  near  Richmond  at  the  time  and  confidently 
expected  to  see  him  but  did  not.  I  advertised  for  him 
and  tried  every  means  in  my  power  to  find  him  but  could 
not.  He  was  a  gallant  gentleman  and  as  good  a  soldier 
as  I  ever  knew. 

A  circumstance  occurred  when  the  whole  party  of 
ten  of  us  were  together  on  my  trip  into  Harrison  Coun- 
ty, detailed  above.  When  we  were  in  Webster  County, 
we  passed  through  the  County  seat  one  day,  but  the 
only  building  was  the  Court  House'  built  of  rails  and 
small  poles,  a  temporary  building  erected  for  the  Court 
after  the  burning  of  the  little  town. 

This  was  the  only  instance  I  have  ever  known  of 
the  entire  destruction  of  a  town  either  big  or  little.  I 
think  it  was  on  the  same  day  we  passed  through  Web- 
ster Court  House  that  we  found  night  very  close  upon 
us  and  it  was  raining  and  we  were  all  wet  and  muddy 
and  hungry  and  no  place  to  stay.  We  came  to  a  settlers 
house  of  about  three  rooms  and  several  in  the  family. 
I  asked  if  we  could  stay  all  night  and  get  our  suppers. 


92  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

They  told  us  they  did  not  have  any  bread  and  if  we 
would  grate  the  meal,  from  the  new  corn  they  would 
make  the  bread.  Several  of  the  boys  went  to  work 
and  in  the  course  of  an  hour  we  had  plenty  of  meal. 

They  baked  as  good  broad  at  that  house  as  I  ever 
ate.  I  don't  remember  what  else  they  had,  but  I  do 
remember  that  we  had  a  delicious  meal  and  the  principal 
thing  we  had  was  corn  bread  made  from  the  new  corn. 

New  Recruits 

A  short  time  after  our  return  from  this  scout,  we 
were  told  that  M'aj.  Thomas  Armsby  had  just  come 
through  to  the  Levels  bringing  two  or  three  hundred 
men  to  join  different  commands  of  our  Army.  I  went 
down  to  meet  them  and  quite  a  number  of  the  men  came 
up  with  me  and  joined  the  19th  and  20th  Cavalry. 

Among  these  new  recruits  was  a  large  splendid 
fellow  by  name  of  John  Hammat,  from  Wood  County 
on  the  Ohio  River.  He  was  a  large  man  weighing  about 
250  pounds  then.  He  and  I  became  friends  soon  after 
he  joined  us.  He  was  a  gcod  man  and  a  trusty  and 
faithful  soldier.  We  lived  neighbors  after  the  war  for 
many  years. 

Soon  after  these  men  joined  us,  we  moved  to  the 
east  side  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  and  about  13  miles 
from  Huntersville. 

The  commanding  officer  ordered  18  men  sent  on  a 
scout  down  to  Huntersville  to  feel  out  the  enemy  and 
find  out  how  strong  he  was.  This  was  a  volunteer  scout 
and  I  was  in  it.  My  horse  had  a  sore  back  and  I  found 
one  of  the  boys  that  had  a  good  horse  and  expected 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY    CAMMACK  93 

to  go  on  the  scout.  I  told  him  if  he  would  take  my 
horse  and  stay  with  the  wagon  train  if  they  moved; 
that  I  would  take  good  care  of  his  horse  on  the  trip. 
He  agreed  and  we  made  r.  temporary  trade.  We  were 
commanded  by  a  Captain  and  a  Lieut,  though  there  was 
another  man,  a  Lieut.  Williams  with  us.  He  went 
simply  as  a  soldier  in  the  party.  My  friend  John  Ham- 
mat  was  one  of  the  eighteen. 

Hunting  for  Trouble 

We  arrived  at  our  old  Camp  Northwest,  on  Buck 
Creek,  three  miles  from  Huntersville,  without  incident 
worth  mentioning.  At  that  point  five  men  were  sent 
forward  and  ordered  to  go  on  until  we  found  the  Fed- 
erals. I  was  one  of  the  five  sent  forward.  The  road 
was  down  a  gorge  and  was  very  narrow,  with  the  river 
or  Buck  Creek  on  one  side  often  ten  feet  to  the  water 
and  sometimes  only*  three  feet.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  road  was  a  steep  bank.  The  understanding  was 
that  thirteen  were  to  remain  at  Camp  Northwest,  as 
a  reserve.  The  three  commissioned  officers  remained 
with  the  reserve. 

We  had  gone  perhaps  one  and  a  half  miles  down 
the  gorge  and  had  neither  seen  nor  heard  anything 
of  the  enemy,  when  we  came  to  a  sharp  turn  in  the 
road.  I  was  very  tired  and  I  dismounted  and  threw 
the  bridle  rein  over  my  horses  head  and  sat  down  on 
a  log  that  was  beside  the  road.  I  had  no  sooner  struck 
the  log  than  I  heard  a  pistol  crack  and  thundering  of 
horses  feet  coming  round  the  turn.  I  sprang  on  my 
horse  as  soon  as  possible,  but  our  boys  had  passed  me 


94  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

and  by  the  time  I  started  back  the  Federal  Cavalry 
were  very  close  to  me.  We  had  a  hard  race  for  a  mile 
and  then  suddenly  met  our  reserves  in  that  narrow  road 
with  their  horses  toward  us.  Of  course  it  was  confus- 
ing and  difficult  for  them  to  get  their  horses  turned 
and  get  out  of  the  way  and  very  valuable  time  was  lost 
which  gave  the  enemy  time  to  be  almost  on  us  before 
we  were  nearly  out  of  the  narrow  road  and  where  the 
bank  was  only  about  three  feet  to  the  water.  My  horse 
struck  a  shelving  rock  in  the  road  and  went  over  the 
bank  into  the  water.  He  landed  on  his  feet  however. 
Fearful  of  being  killed  or  captured,  I  made  every  effort 
to  get  back  into  the  road  and  urging  him  with  spur 
and  rein  I  lifted  him  for  the  spring  into  the  road,  which 
he  made  reaching  just  a  little  in  front  of  the  oncoming 
cavalry.  I  thought  for  a  minute  or  two  I  was  a  "goner", 
because  they  were  so  close  they  were  striking  at  me  with 
their  sabres  and  firing  all  the  time.  Near  this  point 
the  road  ran  into  the  creek,  and  for  one  hundred  yards 
the  road  was  in  the  creek.  The  splashing  of  the  water 
was  such  that  I  couldn't  see  very  well,  but  I  found  at 
one  point  a  horse  which  had  been  shot  down  and 
the  rider  Lieut.  Williams  struggling  to  keep  his  head 
above  water.  One  of  his  legs  had  been  caught  under 
the  horse.  I  feared  my  horse  would  fall  over  the  man 
and  horse  and  I  urged  him  and  he  made  the  jump 
lengthwise  of  the  animal  and  never  touched  him. 

We  soon  turned  out  of  the  creek  and  seventy-five 
yards  further  away  came  to  a  small  bridge  thrown  over 
a  little  stream  that  poured  into  the  creek.  On  this 
little  bridge  two  horses  had  gone  down  in  front  of  me. 
Mv  horse  cleared  them  both  and   I  began  to  think  I 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  95 

could  get  away.  One  of  the  men  who  had  lost  his 
horse  at  the  little  bridge  was  running  and  he  called 
to  me  to  take  him  up.  I  could  not.  Had  I  paused  to 
take  him  up,  we  would  both  have  been  captured  or 
killed. 

T  was  now  bearing  to  the  left  toward  a  little  hill 
where  I  could  see  a  few  of  our  men  had  gathered.  I 
reached  the  hill  and  found  the  Captain  and  a  few  men 
there.  As  soon  as  I  got  up  we  began  firing  and  held 
them  off  for  perhaps  twenty  minutes.  I  suppose  I  had 
only  fired  half  a  dozen  times  when  the  lock  of  my  cav- 
alry rifle  broke  and  I  could  not  use  it.  We  were  obliged 
to  rein  our  horses  ovei*  the  brow  of  the  hill  and  load, 
then  move  quickly  on  the  ridge  and  fire,  reining  the 
horses  back  again  while  we  loaded.  There  was  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  enemy,  probably  300,  right  in 
front  of  us  at  the  hill.  As  soon  as  my  gun  had  broken 
I  pushed  up  on  the  ridge  and  remained  there  while  the 
fight  lasted.  I  could  not  afford  to  stay  over  the  ridge 
even  if  my  gun  was  broken.  I  have  always  been  glad 
that  it  happened  that  way  because  I  had  nothing  to  do 
but  watch  the  enemy. 

There  was  about  three  hundred  of  them  and  half 
of  them  dismounted  at  the  creek  and  were  sent  up 
through  the  woods  to  get  in  our  rear.  As  the  road  at 
this  point  was  in  the  shape  of  a  horse  shoe  we  were 
nearly  at  the  point  of  the  horse  shoe. 

Seeing  clearly  what  they  were  doing  I  told  the 
Captain,  but  he  was  excited  and  he  swore  that  we  would 
give  them  a  few  more  rounds  anyway.  I  kept  watching 
these  dismounted  men  until  they  had  reached  the  top 
of  the  hill  and  then  they  would  have  to  go  even  a  less 


96  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

distance  than  we  to  cut  off  our  retreat.  Finally  I  show- 
ed the  Captain  what  they  were  doing  and  that  we  had 
barely  time  by  hard  riding  to  get  out.  He  did  order 
a  retreat  very  regretfully,  but  he  ordered  the  retreat 
instantly  and  when  we  passed  the  point  where  they 
would  have  cut  us  off,  we  barely  had  time  to  save  our- 
selves. "We  lost  in  this  little  fight  twelve  or  thirteen 
men  killed  or  captured.  There  was  only  about  six  of 
us  got  back  to  Camp. 

I  have  always  thought  it  was  a  great  mistake  on 
the  part  of  the  Commander  to  send  so  small  a  force 
so  far  in  front  of  the  Army,  and  then  I  think  an  officer 
should  be  able  to  keep  his  command  under  discipline. 
He  should  refrain  from  risking  his  men  where  nothing 
is  promised  but  the  excitement  of  the  fighting. 

I  was  a  witness  that  day  of  a  very  remarkable 
thing.  One  of  these  men,  who  was  a  first  class  soldier, 
became  panic  stricken  after  the  fight  was  over  and  to 
my  mind  all,  or  nearly  all,  danger  had  passed.  This 
man  unbuckled  his  sword  and  pistol  belt,  and  threw 
his  weapons  away  and  galloped  to  the  rear  as  fast  as 
his  horse  could  go. 

I  cannot  give  a  continuous  account  of  happenings 
during  these  four  years.  I  did  not  keep  a  dairy  and  I 
have  forgotten  names  and  dates  and  in  fact  very  many 
important  events  with  which  I  was  closely  connected. 
I  have  deferred  the  writing  of  these  reminiscences  too 
long.  I  find  that  I  cannot  recall  the  names  of  men 
with  whom   I   was   intimately   associated. 

East  of  Warm  Spring  Mountain 

During  the  fall  of  1863,  we  fell  back  to  the  East 
side   of   the   warm   Spring   Mountain.      The   enemy   in 


I 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  97 

heavy  force  was  following  iis  closely.  When  we  came 
to  the  river  three  miles  from  Warm  Spring's,  Charley 
Martin  and  I  were  anxious  to  go  up  the  river  two  or 
three  miles  to  get  dinner  and  to  see  two  young  ladies 
up  there  with  whom  we  were  acquainted.  Col.  Amett 
at  first  refused  to  let  us  go,  but  finally  said,  ''you  can 
go,  but  if  you  are  captured  and  ever  return  to  the  regi- 
ment, I  will  court  martial  you."  We  went,  found  the 
folks  at  home,  got  a  lunch  and  found  the  whole  family 
momentarily  expecting  the  enemy. 

One  of  our  boys  in  the  Regiment  had  a  horse  there 
on  pasture.  I  knew  the  Federals  would  capture  him 
and  soon  after  reaching  the  house  I  sent  a  colored  man 
for  him  and  had  him  hitched  near  the  gate  and  close 
to  my  horse. 

The  ladies  and  Charley  and  I  came  out  to  the  gate 
or  stile  and  were  chatting  when  a  negro  boy  ran  up 
and  yelled,  ''the  Yankees  'am  a  comin,."  We  looked 
down  through  the  orchard  and  they  were  coming  sure 
enough. 

Charley  jumped  on  his  horse  and  started,  but,  I 
decided  to  change  saddles  and  lead  my  horse.  It  took 
two  or  three  precious  minutes  to  do  this  and  when  I 
mounted  and  started  the  Yankees  were  very  close  and 
my  "led"  horse  was  moving  very  slowly,  and  I  was 
urging  him  to  come  on. 

I  had  to  cross  the  river  near  the  house  and  as  soon 
as  I  reached  the  other  side,  I  persuaded  both  horses  into 
a  gallop.  We  had  more  than  one-half  mile  to  run  to 
the  foot  of  the  mountain.  When  we  reached  the  woods 
and  had  gone  a  short  distance  I  overtook  a  small  negro 
boy  riding  behind  some  cattle  trying  to  get  them  to  a 


98  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

place  of  safety.  The  little  negro  was  crying  with  all 
his  might  and  the  tears  streaming  down  his  face.  His 
master  was  off  on  the  flank  trying  to  keep  the  cattle  up 
in  the  mountain  road.  I  asked  the  boy  what  was  the 
matter.  He  burst  out  afresh  and  said,  "I  wish  to  God 
I  was  in  the  woods  som'whar. "  I  couldn't  help  but 
laugh,  because  the  forest  was  absolutely  so  dense  around 
us.  We  went  a  round-about  way,  but  we  got  into  Warm 
Springs  about  two  and  one-half  hours  after  the  Com- 
mand. 

Mr.  Mayo,  the  proprietor  of  the  Warm  Springs 
Hotel,  was  very  much  alarmed,  when  Gen.  W.  L.  Jack- 
son declined  to  stop  and  fight  at  Warm  Springs.  The 
General  told  him  his  force  was  not  equal  to  that  of  the 
enemy  and  he  would  be  obliged  to  go  on. 

There  were  about  4,500  of  the  Federals  and  1,800 
of  us. 

We  crossed  the  Warm  Spring  Mountain  just  in 
front  of  the  enemy,  though  they  did  not  follow  farther 
than  the  towns  of  Warm  Springs  and  Germantown.  We 
camped  on  the  east  side  of  the  mountain  that  night. 
The  next  morning  the  General  decided  to  cross  the 
mountain  and  drive  the  enemy  out  of  the  Springs. 

The  first  detachment  that  went  over  the  mountain 
was  commanded  by  Col.  Will  Arnett.  When  we  reached 
the  west  side  of  the  mountain  we  turned  into  a  small 
field. 

Hunting  for  the  Enemy 

Presently  volunteers  were  called  for  to  go  down 
into  Warm  Springs  and  Germantown  and  see  if  the 
enemy  were  still  there.     When  no  one  responded,  old 


I 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY    CAMMACK  99 

Gen.  Wiley  got  up  from  the  ground  and  said,  "1  don't 
think  I  am  too  old  to  go  in  the  advance  and  find  out." 
Instantly  a  number  of  us .  volunteered  to  go.  I  "was 
g,mong  the  number,  and  seven  of  us  went  forward.  We 
were  more  afraid  of  an  ambush.  However,  the  Feder- 
als had  vacated  the  towns.  We  followed  them  almost 
to  Hot  Springs,  about  four  miles  from  the  Warm 
Springs.  They  felled  a  good  many  trees  across  the 
road  to  hinder  the  pursuit. 

After  following  them  four  miles  we  turned  back 
and  reported  to  the  command,  which  had  now  moved 
forward  and  camped  at  the  Springs. 

Dr.  M'cChesney  lived  at  Germantown.  When  we, 
the  scouts  or  advance,  followed  close  after  the  Federals, 
as  they  went  out  of  town,  nearly  all  thei  women  and 
children  were  out  in  the  streets,  shouting  and  laughing 
and  rejoicing.  When  we  were  nearly  opposite  the  Me- 
Chesney  home,  Mrs.  McChesney  came  out  into  the  street 
in  front  of  us  shouting  and  throwing  her  baby  up  and 
catching  it  in  her  hands. 

She  was  the  mother  of  about  six  children.  She  was 
about  38  years  old  and  I  have  often  thought  the  hand- 
somest woman  of  her  age  I  have  even  seen.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  a  celebrated  family  in  Southwest  Vir- 
ginia by  the  name  of  Moffett. 

General  Jackson  was  ordered  to  move  that  evening 
to  the  Gatewood  farm  on  Buck  Creek  to  get  in  front 
of  the  Federal  General  who  was  being  pursued  by  Mc- 
Causlands  brigade.  Our  command  for  some  reason  un- 
known to  us  did  not  march  until  six  hours  later.  Had 
we  gotten  the  position  we  were  expected  to  take  at  Gate- 
wood 's  and  with  McCausland  pressing  them  in  the  rear, 


100  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

there  is  no  doubt  but  that  a  great  part  of  Averills  army, 
with  his  Artiller\^  and  wagon  train,  would  have  fallen 
into  our  hands. 

As  it  was  we  arrived  at  Gatewood  in  less  than  an 
hour  after  Averill's  rear  passed  and  about  the  time  we 
arrived  MeCausland  came  up.  I  have  never  heard  the 
matter  explained  and  there  was  doubtless  a  good  reason 
for  our  not  mo\aug  on,  but  we  always  believed  that, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Federal  army  was 
much  larger  and  better  equipped  than  Jackson  and  Me- 
Causland, his  command  would  have  fallen  into  our 
hands,  after  a  sharp  struggle,  maybe,  but,  we  felt  that 
we  could  have  done  it. 

Anything  to  Get  Grub 

A  rather  funny  incident  occurred  the  morning 
after  we  had  crossed  over  Warm  Spring  mountain  and 
some  days  before  the  march  to  Gatewoods.  "We  did 
not  receive  orders  to  camp  until  about  9  :30  P.  M.  and 
then  found  there  was  nothing  to  eat  for  either  man 
or  horse.  I  walked  about  a  mile  and  a  half  to  get  a 
couple  of  sheafs  of  oats  for  my  horse,  then  I  lay  down 
and  slept  without  anything  to  eat.  The  next  morning 
we  had  nothing  to  eat,  but  Lieut.  Boggs  came  around 
where  Charley  Martin  and  I  were  standing,  boasting 
that  he  had  just  enjoyed  a  good  breakfast  over  at  the 
house,  pointing  at  a  large  farm  house  near,  owned  by 
a  widow  lady.  Boggs  said  he  represented  himself  as 
Colonel  someone,  I  have  forgotten  who,  and  he  made 
an  impression  on  the  widow.  She  gave  him  a  good 
breakfast  and  he  was  invited  to  return.     Charley  Mar- 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  lOl 

tin  and  I  were  hungry  and  we  went  over  to  the  house 
and  insisted  on  seeing  the  widow.  Martin  very  gravely 
introduced  me  as  Maj.  Cammack  and  I  introduced  him 
as  Lieut.  Martin.  I  asked  the  lady  if  a  large  man  in 
good  uniform  had  been  there  that  morning  represent- 
ing himself  as  a  Col.  and  getting  his  breakfast.  I  told 
her  I  was  very  sorry  that  one  of  our  young  Lieut's 
should  act  so  dishonorably  and  that  I  should  have  him 
punished.  The  lady  was  very  indignant  at  the  impo- 
sition practiced  on  her  by  Boggs.  She  finally  thought 
of  her  duty  as  hostess  to  us  and  invited  us  to  breakfast. 
After  we  had  partaken  heartily  we  were  invited  to 
come  back  whenever  we  could  and  eat  with  her  again. 
We  took  our  leave  with  many  regrets  and  went 
back  to  camp  and  told  Boggs. 

Battle  of  Droop  Mountain 

The  battle  of  Droop  Mountain  took  place  shortly 
after  this.  I  had  been  ordered  to  Richmond,  Virginia 
to  recruit  and  to  bring  out  the  men  to  Jackson's  brigade. 
The  command  moved  to  Droop  Mountain,  had  the  en- 
gagement, and  had  returned  to  Buck  Creek,  while  I 
was  away  in  Richmond. 

Soon  after  this  time,  as  I  remember  it  was  near  the 
first  of  December,  1863,  my  health  became  bad  again 
and  the  surgeon  of  our  Brigade  insisted  that  I  should 
go  as  far  east  as  Richmond,  Virginia,  and  join  myself 
to  some  command  there  and  remain  through  the  winter. 
I  am  continually  worried  by  a  failure  to  remember 
interesting  dates  and  names  of  people  in  writing  these 
reminiscences,  but,  sometimes  I  cannot  remember  occur- 


102  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

rences  during  a  period  of  as  much  as  two  or  three 
months,  and  then  I  have  only  very  hazy  recollections 
of  happenings  during  this  period. 

I  kept  no  notes  nor  diary  at  all  during  the  war. 
Now  after  fifty  years  have  gone  by  I  find  I  can  only 
remember  a  part  of  the  stirring  things  that  occurred 
from  sixty-one  to  sixty-five  and  I  am  very  sorry  that 
I  did  not  write  of  these  things  soon  after  the  war,  when 
they  were  fresh  in  my  mind. 

I  went  to  Fluvanna  County,  Virginia,  to  Uncle 
Peter  Manley's  sometime  in  December,  1863.  On  the 
1st  day  of  January,  1864,  I  got  into  Richmond  early 
in  the  morning,  landing  there  on  a  James  river  canal 
boat.  For  many  years  this  first  day  of  January,  '64, 
was  spoken  of  as  the  coldest  day  Richmond  ever  had. 

Around  Richmond 

I  do  not  know  what  the  strength  of  our  army  was 
that  defended  Richmond  at  that  time.  But  the  enemy 
were  not  investing  the  city  as  they  did  later  in  the 
year. 

At  this  time  Gen.  Braxton  Bragg,  had  command 
of  the  Department  of  Richmond,  which  I  suppose  in- 
cluded Drewrys  Bluff,  and  Chaffins  Bluff,  two  strongly 
fortified  places  on  the  James  river. 

We  had  a  line  of  fortifications  running  around 
the  city  beginning  three  miles  from  the  city  on  the 
west  at  the  river  and  running  a  few  miles  out,  entirely 
encompassing  the  city  and  going  into  the  river  just 
below  Chaffins  Bluff.  This  line  of  works  was  said  to 
be  thirty-five  miles  long.     These  earthworks  were  about 


1 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRt   CAMMACK  103 

fifteen  feet  at  the  base  and  something  like  seven  feet 
thick  at  the  top,  except  at  intervals  of  about  three  hun- 
dred yards.  There  were  redoubts  built,  which  were 
much  thicker  and  occasionally  forts  built.  These  forts 
and  redoubts,  and  all  the  fortifications  in  this  inner 
line  were  built  of  heavy  timber  and  filled  with  earth. 

Every  redoubt  had  guns  mounted,  the  largest  of 
these  pieces  were  thirty-twos.  When  I  came  to  Rich- 
mond the  first  day  of  January,  1864,  I  purposed  to  join 
Gen.  Morgan,  who  was  being  lionized  greatly  at  that 
time,  he  having  recently  made  his  escape  from  Camp 
Chase.  His  brother-in-law.  Gen.  Brazil  Duke,  was  there 
also.  I  tried  to  join  myself  with  Morgan's  command, 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact  my  health  appeared  to  be  so 
bad  they  were  afraid  to  take  me  in. 

Hence  it  was  that  I  entered  the  service  there  in 
the  Tenth  Artillery  doing  service  at  that  time  around 
the  whole  interior  line  of  fortifications.  The  Captain 
of  my  Company  C,  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Barlow. 
He  was  a  fine  looking  soldier  about  36  years  old.  He 
had  a  company  of  men  numbering  130.  I  went  into 
the  mess  in  which  his  brother  Jim  Barlow,  and  his  half 
brother,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Sam  Pollock,  were  mem- 
bers.    There  were  only  about  six  of  us  in  the  mess. 

One  of  the  first  incidents  that  I  remember  after 
joining  the  company  was  when  Capt.  Barlow  invited  me 
to  come  to  his  quarters  one  evening.  We  talked  about 
the  field  service  and  some  occurrences  in  soldier  experi- 
ences. During  the  conversation  I  was  induced  to  make 
what  I  have  always  considered  a  bad  break,  or  at  best 
a  very  untimely  remark.  It  was  this.  I  told  Barlow 
that  the  men  in  his  command  appeared  as  much  afraid 


104        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

of  Lieutenants  and  Captains  as  other  soldiers  where 
I  had  been  serving  were  of  Generals.  I  saw  at  once  that 
Captain  Barlow  did  not  like  this  remark.  He  was  a 
strict  disciplinarian  and  in  fact  a  regular  martinet,  and 
was  not  willing  that  any  soldier  in  his  command  should 
think  of  an  officer  other  than  as  a  great  man  that  he 
must  be  entirely  subservient  to. 

Barlow  liked  me  as  a  soldier,  but  he  disliked  my 
rather  free  way  of  looking  at  Commissioned  Officers. 
The  Captain  evidently  had  it  in  for  me,  and  whenever 
he  had  an  opportunity  he  made  me  remember  it. 

An  Untimely  Raid 

One  of  the  first  bouts  with  the  enemy  was,  I  think, 
in  February  '64,  Gen.  Gilpatrick  and  Gen.  Dahlgreen 
of  the  Federal  Army  conceived  the  brilliant  idea  of 
making  a  raid  inside  our  lines  and  releasing  all  the 
prisoners  confined  at  Belle  Isle,  and  other  prisons,  then 
looting  the  city  and  possibly  capturing  it.  Our  au- 
thorities were  not  aware  of  this  movement  until  the 
federal  cavalry  were  actually  within  our  lines.  We 
were  double  quicked,  acting  as  infantry  about  eight 
or  nine  miles,  from  below  the  city  to  the  north  west 
where  we  met  the  raiders. 

I  remember  it  was  a  very  rainy  night  and  at  that 
season  of  the  year  not  very  warm.  JMy  shoes,  which 
had  been  issued  to  me  the  day  before  this  march,  were 
made  for  the  navj  and  were  not  sewed  or  pegged,  but 
were  put  together  with  gum  paste.  Of  course  the  slush 
and  mud  in  which  I  was  obliged  to  go  soon  caused  them 
to  come  to  pieces.  The  soles  were  gone,  the  uppers 
flapping  about  my  ankles,  but  my  feet  in  the  mud. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  105 


This  was  anything  but  pleasant  to  me.  We  made 
a  pretty  good  fire  when  we  halted,  but  there  was  only 
one  fire  for  the  whole  company  and  as  a  matter  fact 
I  did  not  get  close  to  it  at  all. 

The  attack  was  made  on  the  lines  about  two  hours 
later  and  Gen.  Dahlgreen  was  killed  about  three  hun- 
dred yards  to  our  left. 

The  raid  made  by  the  enemy  was  successfully  re- 
pulsed. We  were  ordered  back  next  morning  about 
ten  o'clock.  I  think  it  would  have  been  hard  to  find  a 
more  wet,  muddy  and  forlorn  command  than  we  were 
as  we  marched  back  that  day  to  our  camp.  Some,  like 
myself,  were  actually  barefooted,  dragging  along 
through  the  mud  and  water. 

Getting  Shoes 

I  made  a  request  for  a  pair  of  shoes  that  day,  but 
Capt.  Barlow  said  none  would  be  issued  me  because 
I  had  just  had  a  pair.  The  next  daj'  I  was  ordered  on 
guard  duty  up  the  line  about  a  mile.  I  refused  to  go 
unless  shoes  were  issued  to  me  or  that  I  be  sent  in 
command  of  the  guard.  In  the  latter  event  I  would 
have  no  sentry  duty  to  perform.  I  was  a  little  surprised 
to  be  soon  ordered  to  this  redoubt  in  command  of  the 
guard,  but  the  shoes  were  again  refused.  During  the 
afternoon  of  that  day  the  Colonel  in  command  came 
as  was  the  custom  to  make  an  inspection  of  the  redoubt. 
The  Colonel  rode  up  and  after  the  salute  by  the  sentry, 
he  asked  for  the  officer  in  command.  I  immediately 
stepped  out  of  the  hut,  dressed  as  follows:  I  think  I 
wore  a  home-made  straw  hat,  I  do  not  know  what  sort 


106        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

of  shirt,  a  pair  of  old  grey  trousers  with  one  suspender 
and  barefooted.  I  carried  an  Enfield  rifle,  which  I 
very  properly  brought  to  a  Present  Arms.  The  Colonel 
returned  the  salute  and  said,  "I  want  to  see  the  officer 
in  command  of  this  redoubt."  I  kept  my  face  perfectly 
straight  and  answered,  "I  have  the  honor  sir,  to  be  in 
command  here."  I  could  see  that  he  was  very  amused 
at  my  appearance  as  an  officer,  but  we  went  through 
with  the  inspection,  the  Colonel  remaining  as  dignified 
as  only  an  Old  Army  officer  knows  how  to  be. 

When  the  inspection  was  over,  the  Colonel  saluted 
and  started  away.  I  stopped  him  and  said  I  had  a 
small  matter  to  talk  about.  He  graciously  gave  me 
permission  to  talk  and  I  explained  my  appearing  before 
him  barefooted,  because  my  Captain  declined  to  issue 
me  a  pair  of  shoes.  The  Colonel  did  not  interrupt 
until  I  was  through,  he  then  said  "I  will  see,  sir,  that 
the  shoes  are  issued  to  you." 

I  went  down  to  Cam])  for  a  few  minutes  during 
the  day  and  met  the  Captain.  He  had  already  heard 
of  the  matter  and  had  been  directed  to  issue  me  a  pair 
of  shoes.  He  said,  "D— —  it  all,  I  hear  you  have  been 
talking  to  the  Colonel ! "  I  said,  ' '  Yes,  I  have  explained 
the  matter  to  the  Colonel  and  I  think  I  will  get  the 
shoes."  I  got  the  shoes  alright,  but  Capt.  Barlow,  did 
not  get  in  a  good  humor  with  me. 

When  I  joined  the  company  of  Capt.  Barlow,  there 
was  a  verbal  agreement  tliat  I  should  be  transferred 
to  the  Cavalry  and  field  service  when  the  winter  had 
passed.  When  the  spring  time  came,  I  very  naturally 
wanted  to  go  back  to  the  army  in  the  valley  or  fronting 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY   CAMMACK  107 

Western  Virginia.  This  notion  was  opposed  by  Capt. 
Barlow.  Then  I  found  a  good  man  to  put  in  my  place, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  10th  Virginia  Cavalry  and 
whose  home  was  near  Richmond.  This,  also,  Barlow 
refused,  although  the  soldier  was  a  first-class  one.  Bar- 
low then  told  me  plainly  that  "He'd  be  D d  if  he 

intended  to  let  me  go  out  of  his  Company." 

From  that  time  on  there  was  much  dislike  between 
us.  I  was  very  careful  to  give  him  no  opportunity  to 
use  his  authority  against  me.  We  had  a  little  scrap  of 
words  one  day  and  I  told  him  that  he  might  watch  as 
closely  as  he  pleased,  but  that  he  would  never  have  a 
good  reason  for  putting  me  in  the  guard  house,  or 
punishing  me  in  any  way.  I  think  he  watched  for  an 
opportunity  to  humiliate  me  in  some  way,  but  never 
found  it.  On  one  occasion  though,  he  made  the  most 
of  what  he  thought  was  a  good  chance  at  me.  It  was 
at  inspection  of  Arms.  This  usually  occurred  just  after 
Roll  Call,  early  in  the  morning.  There  was  about  the 
full  number,  130  present  and  the  Captain  in  going 
through  inspection  examined  my  gun  critically.  After 
it  was  over,  he  stood  in  front  of  the  Company  and 
ordered  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hubbard  and  myself 
to  step  three  paces  to  the  front.  We  did  so  and  then 
he  ordered  us  back  to  our  quarters  and  to  clean  our 
guns.  As  a  matter  of  fact  my  gun  was  clean  but  it 
was  a  bronzed  barrel.  I  had  traded  my  rifle  to  one  of 
the  company  because  the  bronzed  barrel  did  not  need 
much  rubbing.  Of  course  Capt.  Barlow  knew  my  gun 
was  clean,  but  all  the  Company  could  not  know  it  and 
he  intended  the  orders  he  gave  as  a  reflection  on  me. 


108        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

Another  Effort 

Sometime  in  February  or  March  the  enemy  in  our 
front,  near  Mechaniesville  made  an  effort  to  break 
through  our  lines  at  that  point  and  get  into  the  city. 
Gen.  Braxton  Bragg,  who  was  in  command  of  the  de- 
partment of  Richmond  at  that  time,  brought  his  forces 
from  several  points  on  the  interior  lines  where  they 
could  be  spared  and  hurried  them  to  the  point  on  the 
Mechaniesville  road.  The  engagement  was  of  short 
duration,  and  the  Federals  were  driven  back. 

A  rather  queer  incident  occurred  on  this  quick 
march.  We  had  two  men  in  our  company,  Haskin 
Brothers,  one  of  them  was  an  excellent  soldier,  but 
the  other  was  not.  On  the  march  referred  to  we  were 
within  about  seven  hundred  yards  of  the  firing  line, 
when  one  of  these  brothers  took  a  violent  pain  in  his 
stomach  and  laid  down  on  the  side  of  the  road.  A  num- 
ber of  us  tried  to  get  him  to  go  on  but  he  would  not. 
Awhile  after  this  we  were  hurrying  down  to  Malvern 
Hill  at  night,  having  been  ordered  to  move  quickly. 
This  man  fell  out  of  ranks  and  we  soon  heard  the  re- 
port of  a  musket  and  on  investigating  the  case  found 
that  he  had  placed  the  muzzle  of  his  rifle  against  the 
toe  of  his  shoe  nearly  severing  one  toe  on  his  foot  and 
cutting  his  big  toe  badly.  He  said  that  he  was  clean- 
ing his  gun  at  the  time  and  that  it  went  off  accidentally. 
Farther  on  I  will  mention  one  more  incident  in  regard 
to  this  man. 

Several  gun  boats  had  come  up  the  river  to  Mal- 
vern Hill  and  landed  some  troops.  Gen.  Ewell  with 
a  portion  of  Anderson's  division  and  some  other  troops 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  109 

went  down  in  a  hurry  to  meet  them.  About  five  of  the 
gun  boats  got  our  range  about  sundown  and  we  held 
the  hill  until  about  three-fourths  of  an  hour  after  dusk, 
when  we  were  compelled  to  retire  toward  our  breast 
works.  Wliile  at  Malvern  Hill,  we  were  probably  eight 
miles  from  our  lines.  Soon  after  we  were  ordered 
back,  we  were  halted  and  ordered  not  to  fall  out  of 
ranks.  We  were  all  nearly  tired  to  death,  but  some 
fellow  and  myself  decided  that  we  would  drop  out  of 
ranks  and  slip  into  some  heavy  pine  timber  through 
which  the  road  ran  and  get  a  good  rest  on  the  heavy- 
bed  of  pine  needles  that  covered  all  the  ground.  We 
slipped  out  of  ranks  alright  and  went  into  the  timber 
a  couple  of  hundred  yards  and  were  just  about  to  laj' 
down,  when  several  shells  came  over  very  close  to  us 
and  tore  into  the  trees,  cutting  the  whole  tops  out  of 
the  trees  and  letting  them  down  so  near  us  we  were 
afraid  we  would  be  killed.  These  shells  thrown  at  us. 
were  called  by  us  "nail  kegs",  because  they  were  about 
as  large  as  nail  kegs,  and  18  or  20  inches^  long.  We 
decided  we  would  get  out  and  move  on,  which  we  did, 
overtaking  the  command  several  miles  further  on. 

Now  I  don't  imagine  that  the  Federal  gunners 
knew  that  my  comrade  and  I  were  in  that  timber,  but 
they  knew  that  our  little  army  was  passing  through  on 
the  road  and  they  succeeded  in  making  it  very  un- 
pleasant for  us  and  we  moved  briskly  to  get  out  of  the 
way. 

While  we  were  camped  below  Richmond,  we  were 
very  close  to  a  large  and  beautiful  plantation  of  an 
old  friend  of  the  Hon.  John  Minor  Botts,  who  lived 
near   Charlestown,    Virginia.      I   knew   this   man   verv 


110  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

well.  He  became  very  much  opposed  to  the  Confeder- 
ate Government  and  had  frequent  cases  of  trouble  with 
them.  I  have  always  thought  that  if  the  Confederate 
Government  had  treated  Francis  Stearns  more  kindly 
he  would  have  been  united  to  the  cause  with  hooks  of 
steel.  One  incident  occurring  before  I  knew  him  helps 
to  confirm  this  opinion. 

Francis  Stearns 

Early  in  the  war  a  Cavalry  Company  was  organ 
ized  at  Richmond  and  Mr.  Stearns  invited  the  whole 
company  and  their  families  to  banquet  with  him  in  his 
beautiful  home.  The  invitation  was  accepted  and  the 
company,  one  hundred  strong,  came.  Now  there  was 
a  servant  who  stood  in  front  of  every  horse  and  tooJc 
them  and  fed  them.  The  mothers  and  sisters  of  these 
men  were  also  invited.  Two  great  tables  had  been 
prepared,  one  for  the  ladies,  presided  over  by  Mrs. 
Stearns  and  the  other  for  the  men,  where  Mr.  Stearns 
made  a  speech,  commending  the  men  for  their  patriotic 
response  to  the  call  of  their  country.  Among  other 
things  he  said  was  that  "No  soldier  should  ever  pass 
his  gate  hungry,  during  the  war."  The  State  and  con- 
federate States  as  well,  seem  to  have  resented  the  in- 
timate friendship  between  ]\Ir.  Stearns  and  John  Minor 
Botts,  probably  because  Botts  had  stood  with  all  of 
liis  power  against  the  state  of  Virginia  in  the  matter 
secession.  Stearns  was  a  fiery  man  and  when  he 
thought  the  government  had  him  somewhat  under  sus- 
picion, he  got  angry  and  allowed  them  to  think  the 
worst  of  him. 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY   CAMMACK  111 

He  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  for  disloyalty 
to  Virginia. 

I  have  good  reason  to  think  that  if  he  was  an 
enemy,  that  he  became  one  through  unjust  suspicioii 
and  ill  treatment. 

The  summer  of  '64  was  made  up  of  drilling,  roll 
calls  and  quick  marches  from  one  point  to  another 
along  our  tremendously  long  front. 

Grant  Fails 

T  think  it  was  in  June  of  that  year  that  Gen.  Grant 
tiring  of  his  attempts  to  take  Richmond  from  the  north 
side,  instituted  his  daring  effort  by  the  left  flank  march, 
after  the  battle  of  the  wilderness.  The  intention  of 
the  Federal  General  was  to  cross  the  river  some  twenty 
miles  below  Richmond,  but  constantly  as  he  moved  by 
the  left  flank,  he  found  Lee's  army  in  his  front.  Finally 
a  very  bloody  battle  was  fought  at  Cold  Harbor,  north- 
east of  Richmond.  I  think  that  scarcely  any  ])attle  of 
the  war  was  more  bloody.  Grant  had. force  enough  to 
withstand  his  dreadful  losses  there,  and  in  a  few  days 
he  took  up  his  line  of  march  again  for  the  front  of 
Petersburg.  There  was  only  a  small  force  of  men  oc- 
cupying the  interior  line  of  defense  around  Richmond 
during  '63  and  until  after  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor 
in  '64. 

During  the  whole  of  eighteen  hundred  and  sixt}^ 
four,  my  command  was  in  front  of  Richmond.  When 
the  many  scouts  and  spies  located  here  and  there,  at  dif- 
ferent points  discovered  that  the  enemy  proposed  break- 
ing through,  then  we  were  sent  there.     As  the  head  of 


112  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

Grant's  column  reached  the  James  River  and  was  pre 
paring  to  cross  and  invest  Petersburg,  our  eomniarid 
was  hurried  to  a  point  about  four  miles  from  the  river 
but  when  we  got  there  the  enemy's  camp  fires  were 
smoking,  they  having  just  cooked  three  days  rations 
and  moved  toward  the  river. 

I  think  that  Gen.  Lee  Avould  have  preferred  for 
Grant  to  cross  the  river,  rather  than  to  have  fought 
another  general  engagement  at  that  time. 

Desertions 

Our  army  was  fearfully  reduced  by  the  casualties 
of  the  many  battles  they  had  fought  that  year  and  with 
sickness,  captures  and  desertion.  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  desertion  constituted  a  very  serious  loss  to  the  army 
of  northern  Virginia,  If  the  loss  by  desertion  had 
been  altogether  of  the  worthless  fellows  in  the  army, 
we  could  have  stood  it  better  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact. 
very  many  excellent  soldiers  received  letters  from  their 
homes  and  received  reports  of  the  suffering  and  priva- 
tions of  their  families  until  their  patriotism  became 
entirely  overshadowed  by  the  love  they  bore  their 
families,  A  large  number  of  such  men  as  these  took 
"French  leave",  never  returning.  Some  of  the  men 
who  ran  away  from  the  army  and  went  to  their  homes 
saw  to  their  families  the  best  they  could  and  returned 
to  the  army. 

From  what  little  history  I  know,  my  conviction 
is  that  the  best  army  the  whole  world  has  ever  seen 
was  the  Confederate  Army.  A  very  large  number  of 
the  men  were  intelligent  and  refined.     In  almost  everv 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  113 

company  there  could  have  been  found  a  number  of 
privates  entirely  equal  to  and  often  superior  to  the 
man  who  commanded  them.  I  have  the  opinion  that 
this  army  was  as  well  disciplined  for  fighting  purposes 
as  any  that  ever  existed.  There  were  men  in  it  from 
every  walk  of  life  and  yet  the  whole  of  them  bore  the 
worst  privations  and  hardships  including  hunger  and 
cold  as  if  they  enjoyed  it. 

After  the  war  I  lived  awhile  at  Marietta,  Ohio. 
Several  people  wanting  to  make  me  feel  comfortable 
said,  "We  don't  blame  you,  we  know  that  you  had  to 
go  in  the  army  and  could  not  help  it." 

I  was  obliged  to  tell  them  to  not  waste  any  sym- 
pathy on  me,  that  I  went  into  this  army  because  I 
wanted  to  and  that  I  never  saw  the  day  I  couldn't 
have  gotten  away  if  I  had  wanted  to. 

Libby  Prison 

We  did  guard  duty  for  about  six  or  eight  weeks 
at  Libby  Prison,  Libby  No.  2  and  at  Castle  Thunder. 
I  was  also  at  Belle  Island  one  night. 

I  will  explain  that  at  Libby  Prison,  Union  officers 
alone  were  kept.  I  do  not  know  how  many  were  there 
at  any  one  time,  but  probably  as  many  as  1,200.  They 
were  as  comfortably  fixed  as  they  would  have  been  in 
quarters  arranged  by  themselves.  The  building  was 
an  old  tobacco  factory,  two  stories  high,  with  a  base- 
ment, or  cellar  underneath.  The  building  was  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long.  It  fronted  on  Canal 
Street  and  on  Cary  Street. 

I  was  ordered  into  the  two  floors  of  this  officers 
building  several  times,  when  they  would  refuse  to  at- 


114        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

tend  roll  call.  I  talked  to  a  good  many  of  them.  They 
did  not  complain  of  the  fare,  only  as  to  its  cheapness. 
r  have  seen  several  bushels  of  corn  bread  at  a  time, 
thrown  out  of  the  windows  of  that  second  floor,  and  as 
you  have  seen  hogs  grabbing  corn  thrown  to  them,  so 
I  have  seen  children  of  the  city,  white  and  black,  watch- 
ing for  the  throwing  out  of  this  bread,  so  they  could 
grab  it  as  pigs  rush  and  grab  ears  of  corn  when  they 
are  being  fed. 

Libby  number  two,  was  a  prison,  also  a  tobacco 
factory,  where  sometimes  about  900  men  were  kept. 

The  Irish  Beat  Me 

Two  rather  amusing  things  occurred  here.  One 
was  a  case  in  which  I  was  one  of  the  actors.  I  was 
sentinel  at  one  end  of  this  building.  By  some  means 
a  large  hole  had  been  made  in  the  brick  work  and  the 
prisoners  would  frequently  come  to  that  hole  and  talk 
to  us.  One  night  I  was  on  guard  duty  at  that  point 
and  I  heard  a  rich  Irish  voice  ''Sentinel,  Sentinel,"  I 
answered  him,  going  up  close  to  the  hole.  He  said, 
"I  want  to  trade  you  a  new  all-wool  navy  blue  shirt 
for  some  wheat  bread."  Well  we  dickered  some  and 
I  agreed  to  give  him  so  many  loaves.  I  could  not  de- 
liver the  bread  until'  I  could  go  up  town  and  buy  it. 
but  on  my  next  turn  of  duty,  I  would  deliver  it  and 
get  the  shirt.  I  bought  his  seven  loaves,  paying,  I 
think  30  cents  per  loaf  for  it.  When  I  went  to  ex- 
change the  bread  for  the  shirt,  I  said,  ' '  Now  remember, 
I  won't  have  an  old  shirt."  Then  he  swore  that  this 
shirt  had  never  been  on  a  man's  back.     "Now,"  said 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  115 

he,  "You  take  hold  of  part  of  the  shirt  and  give  me 
hold  of  part  of  the  bread  package."  This  I  did  and 
then  he'  let  go  of  the  shirt  and  I  of  the  bread  at  the 
same  time  and  the  trade  was  made.  The  trouble  about 
this  matter  came  a  little  later.  I  stuffed  my  newly 
acquired,  clean,  navy-blue  shirt  into  the  bosom  of  my 
overcoat  and,  when  relief  came,  I  hurried  back  to  the 
guard  house  and  lay  down  to  sleep.  I  was  very  un- 
comfortable and  when  daylight  came,  I  found  that  my 
fine  Irish  friend  had  allowed  me  to  have  an  old  worn 
out  blue  shirt  that  had  probably  never  been  washed 
and  was  full  of  lice.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  old 
shirt  had  filled  my  clothing,  not  with  gray-backs,  but 
with  the  worst  breed  of  blue-backs. 

The  other  incident  I  think  of  took  place  at  this 
same  prison.  The  guard  room  was  directly  under  one 
of  the  prison  rooms.  The  ceiling  in  the  guard  room 
was  about  133/2  feet  high :  In  the  middle  of  the  guard 
room  was  a  trap  door,  about  3x31/2  feet  wide  in  the 
ceiling,  opening  into  the  prisoners  room.  One  of  our 
men  traded  something,  I  don't  remember  what,  to  a 
Yankee  up  there  for  a  blanket.  Our  fellow  stood  on 
a  table  and  reached  up  catching  hold  of  the  end  of  the 
blanket.  The  fellow  reached  down  and  got  hold  of 
whatever  was  being  traded  him  and  then  shouted, 
"hoist  away".  Three  or  four  Yankees  were  holding 
onto  the  blanket  up  there  and  at  the  word  they  pulled 
away  with  a  will.  Our  man,  Gilman,  had  wrapped  the 
end  of  the  blanket  around  his  wrist  so  that  he  couldn't 
let  go  very  quickly,  when  his  head  struck  the  ceiling  it 
was  with  considerable  force,  he  let  go  of  the  end  of 
the  blanket  and  dropped  to  the  floor.     He  was  hurt 


116        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

right  much  and  lost  out  in  the  trade.  He  had  been 
badly  used  by  the  prisoners  but  he  could  not  complain 
because  it  was  a  violation  of  the  military  rules  for 
him  to  even  answer  a  question  asked  by  a  prisoner, 
much  less  to  have  a  trade  with  one  of  them. 

The  Famous  Libby  Canal 

It  was  in  Libby  Prison  that  the  famous  tunnel 
was  cut,  which  allowed  the  escape  of  a  large  number 
of  Union  officers.  The  building  stood  on  a  corner. 
They  seemed  to  have  had  easy  access  into  the  cellar 
of  the  prison  and  no  one  has  ever  told  how  long  they 
were  engaged  in  digging  the  tunnel.  There  could  only 
one  dig  at  a  time  and  he  would  bring  the  dirt  out  in 
his  pockets  and  scatter  it,  or  more  probably  hide  it 
in  a  dark  corner  of  the  cellar.  It  was  said  to  have 
been  an  excellent  piece  of  engineering  skill.  The  tun- 
nel, large  enough  to  admit  a  man's  body,  went  down 
below  and  under  the  foundation  of  the  prison,  then 
east  under  the  sidewalk,  then  under  the  street  and  out 
into  a  stall  in  a  livery  stable.  I  do  not  remember  how 
many  escaped,  but  I  think  about  270,  nearly  all  of  them 
were  captured  and  returned  to  prison. 

I  was  fortunate  in  knowing  a  man  at  Libby  pris- 
on, who  was  a  very  fine  cook,  and  he  had  charge  of 
the  kitchen  in  the  preparation  of  the  meals  for  Capt. 
Turner  and  other  officers  of  the  prison.  His  name  was 
Jesse  Walker.  He  married  a  cousin  of  mine  and  was 
detailed  from  the  44th  Virginia  to  this  service.  Jesse 
gave  me  very  many  good  meals  at  their  table  during 
my  service  in  front  of  Richmond  in  1864. 


I 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  117 

President  Davis 

I  remember  a  very  exciting  thing  that  occurred 
in  front  of  the  prison  one  day.  Pres.  Davis,  went  down 
on  a  vessel  from  Rockets  to  some  point  below  to  examine 
the  river  defenses  and  when  he  returned  he  got  off 
the  boat  and  walked  up  to  his  residence.  He  was  alone 
and  he  came  up  Canal  Street  by  the  prison.  When 
he  stepped  up  on  the  sidewalk  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
building  one  of  the  sentinels  posted  on  the  walk  to  pre- 
vent people  from  walking  close  to  the  windows,  halted 
him  and  directed  him  to  walk  in  the  street.  Mr.  Davis 
seems  to  have  not  known  about  the  order  to  keep  in 
the  street  and  he  was  quite  indignant  at  the  man  order- 
ing him  out,'  of  the  way,  telling  him  that  he  was  Mr. 
Davis,  President  of  the  Confederacy.  The  sentinel  still 
refused  to  let  him  pass  and  Mr.  Davis  always  carried 
a'  sword  cane.  He  was  so  angry  that  he  sprung  the 
sword  and  lunged  at  the  man.  The  man  was  not  sure 
that  he  was  the  President,  but  he  feared  that  he  was. 
He  backed  away  from  him  and  called  the  Officer  of  the 
Guard,  who  came  running  and  had  the  sentry  taken 
to  Castle  Thunder,  which  was  the  place  where  our  own 
political  prisoners  and  all  spies  were  incarcerated. 

Mr.  Davis,  was  unreasoning  in  his  anger  at  the  man 
who  obeyed  his  orders  to  keep  everyone  off  the  side- 
walk at  the  prison.  I  think  the  sentinel  would  have 
been  court  martialed,  but  when  the  news  of  this  out- 
rage reached  our  camp  a  large  body  of  our  men  rebelled 
and  were  going  up  to  attack  Castle  Thunder  and  take 
the  man  out.  When  this  news  came  to  the  authorities 
some  of  them  hastily  looked  into  the  matter  and  called 


118        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

on  the  President  and  had  the  man  released,  thus  ending 
a  very  unpleasant  matter  that  bid  fair  to  have  a  bloody 
ending. 

We  had  a  man  by  the  name  of  St.  John,  son  of 
Bishop  St.  John  of  the  Episcopal  church  in  Richmond. 
This  young  man  was  a  very  clever  bright'  young  man 
and  a  good  soldier,  but  he  was  dreadfully  afflicted  with 
chronic  diarrhoea.  Up  to  almost  the  last  of  1864  he  was 
still  a  victim  of  the  disease. 

I  knew  one  man  in  this  company  who  actually  died 
of  the  "itch".  This  ailment  is  often  laughed  at  by 
those  who  do  not  know  how  serious  it  may  become.  I 
had  it  a  number  of  times  myself  and  I  have  known 
scores  of  men  who  were  sufferers  from  it.  Once  I 
got  some  mercurial  salve  and  rubbed  all  over  me.  I  got 
well  soon  after  this,  but  I  have  known  of  men  dying 
from  the  use  of  this  ointment  and  then  taking  cold. 

During  the  summer  of  '64,  we  were  hard  put  to 
it  in  getting  enough  to  eat.  In  my  mess  there  were 
six  of  us.  Wm.  Barlow,  brother  of  the  Captain  of 
our  Company  and  Tom  Pollock,  half  brother  of  the 
Barlows,  and  three  other  men  whose  names  have  been 
forgotten.  I  remember  we  went  down  to  the  fields 
of  Francis  Stearns  and  gleaned  after  the  wheat  harvest 
and  dried  the  heads  of  wheat  on  our  blankets,  then 
rubbed  them  in  our  hands  blowing  the  chaff  away. 
We  thus  gathered  1%  bushels  of  wheat  which  we  carried 
to  a  little  water  mill  up  the  line  and  had  it  ground. 
We  baked  hot  cakes  with  all  the  bran  in  it.  We  could 
not  afford  to  lose  any  part  of  it. 

One  of  our  mess  was  a  man  of  great  appetite.  He 
was  never  known  to  have  enough.     We  were  compelled 


PRIVATE    JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  119 

in  self  defense,  to  divide  the  bread  into  as  many  parts 
as  there  was  members  in  the  mess  so  that  we  might 
share  equally.  We  brought  pumpkins  up  after  night 
and  put  them  in  our  tent,  using  them  sparingly. 

Slim  "Picking" 

The  coffee  berry  was  not  to  be  had  from  the  Com- 
missary except  at  long  intervals.  During  this  year 
there  was  three  months  from  one  issuance  of  coffee  to 
the  next,  and  then  I  counted  the  grains  received  for 
three  days  ration  and  found  just  thirty  two  (32)  grains. 
We  would  get  meat  issued  but  about  once  in  from  two 
to  three  months.  I  have  paid  one  dollar  for  a  cold 
sweet  potato. 

Our  menu  generally  consisted  of  one-half  pint  of 
blackeyed  peas,  one  gill  of  very  weak  sorghum  and  one 
pint  of  cornmeal  unsifted  and  notwithstanding  all  of 
this,  we,  that  is  our  company,  seldom  lost|  a  man  by 
desertion. 

We  had  a  man  by  the  name  of  Abinoe  that  de- 
serted. He  was  a  sharp,  shrewd  fellow,  lazy  and  a 
natural  born  liar,  if  there  ever  was  any  such  person. 
On  one  charge  or  another  he  spent  about  half  of  his 
time  in  the  guard  house. 

Close  Together 

Along  in  October,  '64,  the  Federal  lines  and  ours 
were  about  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards  apart 
and  there  was  an  agreement  that  if  a  man  from  either 
side  got  more  than  one-half  the  distance  between  the 
lines  he  must  not  be  fired  on.     One  morning  Abinoe 


120        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

was  on  duty  as  a  picket.  He  picked  up  a  paper  and 
climbed  out  of  the  rifle  pit  and  said  that  he  believed 
that  he  would  go  out  there  and  trade  papers.  No  one 
objected  and  when  he  got  half  way  between  the  lines 
he  sprinted,  and  before  anyone  could  shoot  he  was  so 
close  to  the  enemy's  line  that  he  went  in  safely. 

One  other  case  of  desertion  came  to  my  notice  in 
this  immediate  part  of  our  line.  In  this  case  about 
seven  men  and  a  Lieut,  were  involved.  These  men  were 
all  on  the  picket  line  one  dark  night  and  I  suppose  had 
persuaded  themselves  that  this  was  the  best  opportunity 
they  would  ever  have  to  go  to  the  Yankees.  They  start- 
ed about  2:30  A.  M.  but  had^  forgotten  that  our  line 
made  a  sharp  turn  not  far  from  where  they  started, 
so  instead  of  walking  into  the  enemy's  lines  as  they 
had  expected  to  do,  they  walked  over  and  were  received 
into  the  Confederate  lines.  The  case  was  so  clear 
against  them  that  they  made  no  denial  nor  defense. 
They  were  executed  as  soon  as  the  formality  of  a  court 
martial  could  be  gone  through  with  next  day. 

While  we  were  at  this  camp  I  went  over  to  Mr. 
Franklin  Stearns  one  day,  hoping  to  get  some  fresh 
buttermilk.  Mr  Stearns  was  out  on  the  porch  and  he 
was  very  clever  to  me  and  invited  me  in  and  I  talked 
with  him  for  half  an  hour.  He  urged  me  to  come  back 
and  see  him,  which  I  did  many  times.  John  Minor 
Botts,  the  Congressman,  was  a  particular  friend  of  his 
and  he  was  full  of  the  opinions  so  often  expressed  by 
that  statesman,  in  opposition  to  State  Rights,  Southern 
Rights  and  Secession,  and  it  seemed  to  me  every  prin- 
ciple that  Virginia  stood  for. 

One  day,  when  we  were  talking  about  State  Rights, 
and  I  had  given  that  as  a  reason  for  the  South  going 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  121 


into  war,   Mr.    Stearns  said,   "D State   Rights,   I 

am  going  to  send  my  boys  to  Europe  as  fast  as  they 
become  old  enough  to  go  into  the  Army." 

Mr.  Stearns  became  very  objectionable  to  the  Gov- 
ernment and  on  account  of  some  of  his  utterances  and 
acts,  he  was  arrested  and  put  in  prison  as  a'  disloyal 
Southern  man.  He  got  out  of  prison,  but  was  verj^ 
much  embittered  against  the  Confederate  Government. 
From  what  I  know  of  him  I  think  that  he  could  have 
been  retained  as  a  warm  and  useful  friend  of  the  South 
had  it  not  been  for  some  illadvised  things  said  and  done 
by  some  ultra  Southern  men,  who  were  not  friendly  to 
Mr.  Stearns.     He  was  a  very  rich  man. 

The  interior  lines  around  Richmond  were  about 
thirty-five  miles  long  and  after  General  Grant  made 
his  famous  flank  movement  to  the  left  and  crossed 
Petersburg,  we  had  very  few  troops  on  the  north  side, 
except  those  on  this  interior  line.  Often  we  had  a 
very  thin  line  protecting  Richmond.  I  have  known  our 
forces  reduced  to  not  more  than  one  thousand  to  the 
mile.  We  had  redoubts  thrown  up  at  intervals  of  about 
eight  hundred  yards  along  this  line,  mounted  heavy  with 
guns,  especially  on  the  east  and  south. 

We  had  been,  hurriedly  called  out  of  this  interior 
line  one  day  and  sent  down  on  the  Charles  city  road 
where  we  had  some  artillery  to  meet  the  enemy  who 
were  about  to  enter  the  city  at  that  point. 

It  happened  that  while  we  were  in  line  not  far 
from  the  Rockbridge  Battery,  I  saw  a  group  of  officers 
on  their  horses  close  to  us.  I  drew  a  little  nearer  and 
recognized  Gen.  R,  E.  Lee,  President  Davis  and  Gen. 
Ijawton.     There  were  a  number  of  other  officers  also. 


122  PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

A  few  minutes  afterwards  an  orderly  galloped  up  to 
Gen.  Lee  and  saluting  said,  "The  Colonel  sends  his 
compliments  to  Gen.  Lee  and  says  he  does  not  need  any 
infantry  to  support  his  battery." 

The  Rockbridge  Battery  was  one  of  the  most  fam- 
ous organizations  in  the  army  and  the  same  battery 
that  Bob  Lee,  the  son  of  Robert  E.  Lee  belonged  as  a 
private. 

It  was  not  often  the  case  that  a  battery  of  Artillery 
felt  so  able  to  take  care  of  themselves  that  they  could 
afford  to  decline  the  Infantry  support  offered  them. 

Dr.  Mary  Walker 

During  this  year  of  1864,  our  command  was  help- 
ing guard  the  prisoners  in  Richmond.  I  think  I  have 
mentioned  this  before,  but  there  comes  to  me  now  an 
incident  that  I  will  relate.  One  morning  I  was  sent 
to  Castle  Thunder,  a  prison  in  which  spies,  deserters 
and  disloyal  southern  people  were  kept.  Soon  after 
going  on  duty  I  passed  the  door  of  a  prisoner,  a  comely 
looking  young  woman,  that  was  not  very  striking  in 
appearance,  except  that  she  was  dressed  oddly.  She 
wore  a  bloomer  costume.  She  told  me  her  name  was 
Miss  Dr.  Mary  E.  "Walker.  She  had  been  arrested  as 
a  spy.  I  do  not  know  how  soon  she  got  out  of  prison. 
I  saw  her  on  the  street  guarded  by  a  policeman,  who 
had  taken  her  to  the  Provost  Marshals  office.  He  was 
very  much  ashamed  to  be  seen  on  the  street  with  her, 
when  she  had  such  a  peculiar  dress.  Everybody  guyed 
him  a  great  deal. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  123 

Volunteers 

One  evening  about  the  middle  of  September,  our 
company  was  ordered  into  line  and  we  were  told  that 
eight  volunteers  were  wanted  from  this  company.  No 
other  explanation  was  given.  I  do  not  know  how  many 
responded,  but  I  happened  to  be  one  of  the  men. 

We  immediately  got  ready  and  marched  to  Rockets, 
the  steam  boat  landing,  where  we  went  on  board  a  boat 
with  several  hundred  men.  None  of  us  knew  where  we 
were  going. 

The  river  had  boats  sunk  here  and  there  and  mines 
laid  to  prevent  the  enemy's  vessels  from  coming  up, 
but  our  pilot  understood  the  river  route  alright  and 
about  two  o'clock,  we  landed  opposite  Dutch  Gap  Canal 
at  Signal  Hill.  Gen.  Butler  was  cutting  a  canal  through 
the  bend,  which  would  shorten  the  distance  twenty  or 
more  miles.  There  were  about  400  of  us  sent  to  this 
point  to  build  bomb  proofs,  to  prevent  Butler  from 
carrying  out  his  purpose. 

We  were  constantly  under  the  fire  of  his  guns  for 
a  good  many  days  and  nights  and  all  the  time  we  were 
there  one-half  of  the  command  worked  on  the  bomb- 
proofs  while  the  other  half  stood  in  line  with  our  guns 
ready  for  action. 

At  night  I  think  we  placed  a  guard  and  got  what 
sleep  we  could.  The  great  noise  of  the  big  guns  firing 
over  and  around  us  was  not  easy  to  sleep  through,  al- 
though we  got  used  to  it. 

This  400  men  was  made  up  of  volunteers  from 
probably  sixty  different  commands.  The  officer  in 
cjiarge  was  a  Major,  I  cannot  recall  his  name.     He  was 


124  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

a  man  about  thirty-five  years  old,  but  not  a  pleasant 
person  at  all.  He  was  very  overbearing  and  was  much 
disliked  among  the  men. 

One  morning  about  four  o'clock  we  were  all  arous- 
ed and  drew  three  day's  rations  and  began  a  hurried 
march  back  toward  the  city.  After  marching  several 
miles  in  the  direction  of  Fort  Harrison,  which  was  just 
outside  of  our  interior  lines,  and  on  a  small  hill,  we 
found  that  the  enemy  had  followed  us  with  a  large 
army  corps. 

The  Battle  of  Fort  Harrison,  Sept  29 

We  hurried  along,  feeling  that  Fort  Harrison 
would  be  a  good  place  in  case  of  a  fight. 

Bushrod  Johnson's  Brigade,  now  only  about  350 
men,  having  been  badly  used  up  during  the  summer 
by  fighting  and  sickness,  covered  our  rear.  We  entered 
the  Fort  which  had  about  seven  thirty-two  pound  guns 
mounted  and  some  smaller  pieces.  By  the  time  we 
entered  the  Fort  the  enemy's  sharpshooters  were  within 
less  than  three  hundred  yards  of  the  walls.  The  men 
who  were  in  charge  of  the  Fort  that  morning  were  a 
mere  handful  and  when  they  saw  Gen.  Howard's  corps 
crossing  the  plain  behind  the  few  of  us  in  front  of 
Johnson,  they  left  their  guns  and  nearly  all  the  men 
went  in  the  direction  of  Richmond. 

Soon  after  we  had  taken  position  in  the  Fort  and 
commenced  firing,  the  enemy  formed  several  brigades, 
four  lines  deep  and  made  a  tremendous  attack  on  the 
left  wing  of  the  Fort.  The  fighting  was  dreadful.  We 
got  most  of  the  guns  manned,  but  not  all  of  them  got 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY   CAMMACK  125 

into  action,  because  we  did  not  have  enough  men  who 
understood  handling  those  big  guns  to  work  on  them. 

I  suppose  we  held  the  place  about  forty-five  min- 
utes. 

We  had,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fight,  about  six 
hundred  and  sixty  men,  including  the  remnant  of  Bush- 
rod  Johnson's  brigade.  Johnson's  men  were  few  in 
number  and  were  almost  exhausted  when  they  reached 
the  Fort. 

The  enemy  finally  captured  the  right  wing  of  our 
Fort,  thus  driving  us  farther  left.  When  we  first  came 
into  the  fight,  I  was  carrying  our  bacon  strung  in  small 
strips,  like  fish  are  carried.  I  threw  it  over  on  the 
parapet  and  we  went  to  loading  and  shooting  as  fast 
as  we  could.  When  we  were  ordered  to  the  left,  Tom 
Pollard,  my  mess-mate,  grabbed  the  meat  and  brought 
it  along.     I  did  not  think  of  it. 

When  we  were  in  position  over  on  the  left,  Tom 
said  to  me,  ''Mac,  what  in  the  name  of  God  will  I  do 
with  the  meat?"  I  said  to  him:  ''To  the  devil  with 
the  meat,  throw  it  in  that  shanty  behind  us.  If  we 
ever  get  out  of  this,  we  can  get  it  and  if  we  do  not, 
we  won't  need  it." 

The  enemy  came  up  to  within  about  seventy-five 
yards  of  the  parapet  and  I  think  they  did  not  gain  a 
yard  for  about  ten  minutes,  but,  there  were  too  many. 
We  could  not  hold  nor  drive  them  back.  I  was  standing 
where  there  was  an  opening  in  the  wall  to  let  artillery 
ill  and  out  of  the  fort.  I  knew  it  was  not  a  pleasant 
place  for  me,  but  in  the  excitement  and  confusion  of 
the  night,  I  thought  of  nothing  else  to  do  than  to  stay 
there.     About  that  time  I  heard  some  extra  loud  shout- 


126        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

ing  and  looking  to  my  right  I  saw  a  color  bearer  with 
a  number  of  his  comrades  on  top  of  the  fort  about  fifty 
feet  from  me.  The  man  was  jabbing  the  staff  in  the 
earth,  trying  to  plant  the  standard.  I  fired  at  him 
as  he  was  jabbing  the  staff  in  the  ground.  He  fell  for- 
ward on  his  knees  and  then  backward.  Two  other  men 
told  me  they  fired  at  that  color  bearer  at  the  same  mo- 
ment that  I  did.  I  never  knew  to  a  certainty.'  that  I 
ever  shot  and  killed  anyone  during  the  war. 

The  Major  of  whom  I  spoke  above  as  having  com- 
mand at  Signal  Hill,  was  killed  in  this  action.  Col. 
Hughes  took  command.  When  the  first  Federal  line 
was  about  thirty  feet  outside  the  parapet  from  where 
I  was  standing,  Col.  Hughes  spurred  his  horse  across 
this  military  road  and  almost  into  their  line  and  emptied 
his  revolver  in  their  faces.  As  he  reined  the  horse  back 
they  were  grabbing  at  his  horses  bridle.  Then  he  turned 
the  animal  and  was  jumping  him  across  this  military 
road.  While  the  horse  was  making  the  leap  he  was  shot 
and  fell.  The  rider  must  have  fallen  fifteen  feet.  In 
the  meantime  I  had  started  tc«  the  rear  and  as  I  ran 
past  the  Col.,  who  had  just  fallen,  I  glanced  down  at 
him  and  at  that  moment  he  jumped  up  and  we  ran  off 
together.  Of  course  the  Federals  streamed  into  the 
place,  many,  many  thousands  of  them. 

Too  Much  For  Us 

As  I  ran  off  Tom  Pollard  called  at  me  to  not 
run  so  fast,  he  was  lame  and  could  not  keep  up.  I 
glanced  over  my  shoulder  and  told  Tom  I  was  sorry 
for  him,  but  I  didn't  have  time  to  stop.     Some  of  these 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  127 

big  thirty-twos  and  fours  had  been  loaded  before  the 
eannoniers  were  driven  off  and  the  Yankees  turned  them 
on  us.  I  confess  that  the  worst  fear  I  had  at  that  time 
was  being  shot  in  the  back  with  some  of  that  grape  or 
canister. 

We  had  about  650  men  in  the  Fort,  and  we  were 
attacked  by  something  over  16,000  men.  We  only  car- 
ried about  fifty  men  out  of  the  fight,  the  others  were 
killed,  wounded  and  captured. 

There  was  a  line  of  rifle  pits  from  the  interior 
line  toward  the  river  at  Chafins  Bluff.  Those  rifle  pits 
started  from  the  line  about  six  hundred  yards  above 
Fort  Harrison.  I  stopped  at  this  place  and  with  the 
help  of  a  Lieut,  from  Georgia,  succeeded  in  rallying  a 
lot  of  the  soldiers  who  had  been  driven  from  the  Fort 
and  the  line  at  other  points.  I  suppose  we  had  close 
to  150  men  together,  when  Gen.  Ervel  appeared  and 
ordered  us  to  go  into  Fort  Davis,  a  redoubt  not  far 
from  us.  He  said  he  would  have  15,000  men  there 
in  twenty  minutes  and  we  must  hold  the  line  until  they 
came.  We  rushed  in  there  and  found  about  200  men 
and  six  pieces  of  light  artillery.  Just  as  we  were  en- 
tering the  redoubts  I  looked  over  toward  Richmonr) 
and  saw  about  three  batteries  of  artillery  coming.  In 
the  meantime  the  enemy  had  extended  their  lines  to 
the  right  and  had  opened  fire  on  our  redoubt.  Gen. 
Howard  concentrated  twenty-four  pieces  of  artillery 
on  that  redoubt.  The  Infantry,  only  a  few  hundred 
men,  used  all  the  cartridges  we  had  and  some  of  the 
men  ran  to  the  rear  to  ordnance  wagons  and  brought 
ammunition  in  their  handkerchiefs. 

During  this  fight  I  saw  every  man  at  the  guns 
<?o  down.     The  one  man  who  did  not  fall,  the  gunner. 


128        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

loaded  and  fired  three  times  himself.  We  were  ordered 
to  fix  bayonets  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  taking  the 
redoubt.  We  were  then  firing  on  second  shell.  They 
were  so  close  that  one  of  our  men  jumped  on  the  parapet 
and  shouted  to  a  lot  of  men  that  had  gotten  up  close  to 
the  walls  to  "throw  down  their  guns  and  come  in." 
190  Federals  did  so. 

Wounded 

About  this  time  the  man  commanding  the  redoubt 
climbed  up  a  post  about  midway  of  the  redoubt.  A  can- 
non ball  struck  him  a  side  swipe  across  the  back  and 
he  fell  to  the  ground.  Before  doing  so  he  shouted, 
"Don't  give  up  the  Fort!"  Four  men  picked  up  the 
man  and  started  to  the  rear-  and  three  of  them  were 
shot  and  they  let  the  body  drop.  I  never  knew  any- 
thing more  about  the  man,  but  suppose  that  he  died. 
About  this  time  I  was  wounded.  I  happened  to  be 
hit  on  a  finger  with  a  bullet  and  on  the  right  hip  with 
a  piece  of  shell.  The  wound  in  my  hand  was  slight, 
that  in  the  hip  was  serious.  I  was  just  behind  the 
parapet,  two  feet  high,  had  my  gun  raised  to  fire,  my 
finger  on  the  trigger,  but  at  that  moment  a  shell  hit 
the  ground  on  the  parapet  about  three  feet  from  me 
and  exploded,  one  piece  hitting  me  in  the  right  hip 
and  making  a  wound  about  three  inches  long  and  just 
scraping  the  bone.  That  side  of  me  was  instantly  par- 
alyzed and  pretty  soon  I  sank  to  the  ground.  Lieut. 
Hunter,  whom  I  knew  very  well,  saw  me  go  down  and 
he  ran  to  me  and  said,  "Mac,  are  you  hurt?"  I  said 
that  I  thought  I  was  done  for,  because  I  thought  I  had 
been  hit  by  a  minnie  and  it  had   gone  clear  through 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  129 

me.  Turner  undid  the  waistbands  of  my  pants  and 
examined  the  wound  and  said  that  I  was  worth  several 
dead  men  yet,  that  I  was  hurt  by  a  piece  of  shell.  I 
was  greatly  relieved  at  finding  I  had  been  hit  by  a 
piece  of  shell  instead  of  a  bullet  going  through  me. 

Just  before  this  I  saw  a  horse  hit  three  times  by  as 
many  shells  before  he  hit  the  ground.  The  evening 
before  this  fight,  Gen.  Lee  was  out-generaled  by  Gen. 
Grant.  On  what  he  thought  was  trustworthy  informa- 
tion (that  Gen.  Grant  would  attack  Petersburg)  Lee 
moved  thirty-five  thousand  men  over  to  the  south  side. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  Grant  had  planned  an  attack  on  the 
north  side  from  Signal  Hill. 

I  think  Grant  came  very  nearly  being  successful 
in  getting  into  Richmond  that  day.  Late  in  the  after- 
noon of  this  day,  reinforcements  sufficient  to  hold  the 
line  came  up  and  we  held  nearly  all  the  interior  lines 
east  of  Harrison,  though  the  Federals  made  a  fierce 
and  prolonged  effort  to  capture  the  Stockade  Fort,  one- 
third  of  a  mile  east  of  where  I  was  wounded.  The 
Federals  used  troops  for  the  most  part  at  the  Stockade 
Fort  and  a  large  number  of  them  were  killed  in  their 
efforts  to  break  inside  the  enclosure.  For  the  most  part 
they  were  killed  in  the  moat,  but  the  bodies  of  the  others 
were  thrown  in  the  moat  and  dirt  shoveled  over  to 
cover  them.  Two  or  three  months  after  that  I  noticed 
some  of  the  skulls  of  these  men  lying  about  on  the 
ground  in  that  neighborhood. 

I  was  sent  that  evening  out  with  the  guards  to 
take  prisoners  up  to  Richmond. 

I  was  very  lame  but  using  my  gun  as  a  staff,  I 
got  up  to  a  point  opposite!  our  camp  about  six  miles 


130        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

from  the  city  and  I  was  sent  over  to  the  old  camp  where 
a  few  of  our  sick  men  were  left  when  we  were  sent 
away.  The  surgeon  came  in  that  night  and  dressed 
my  wound,  the  first  attention  that  I  had.  I  think  the 
piece  of  shell  that  hit  me  had  torn  and  taken  away 
out  of  my  pants  and  drawers  pieces  of  cloth  as 
large  as  my  hand.  I  was  unable  for  duty  for  about 
twelve  days. 

Getting  Very  Bad 

After  we  left  the  lines  that  day  with  the  prisoners, 
I  was  hobbling  along  close  to  one  of  them,  (they  were 
marching  in  fours)  when  some  one  reached  around  my 
shoulders  and  caught  the  canteen  strap  that  was  around 
the  neck  of  the  prisoner  next  to  whom  I  was  walking. 
He  being  startled  cried  out.  Turning  I  saw  a  soldier 
trying  to  take  the  strap  from  around  his  neck.  I 
brought  my  gun  to  a  charge  bayonet  and  told  the  fellow 
if  he  didn't  let  go  of  that  strap  I  would  run  my  bayonet 
in  him.  He  dropped  his  grasp  of  the  strap  and  ran  on 
ahead  of  us.  I  was  greatly  surprised  a  few  minutes 
later  to  find  that  this  fellow  was  a  Captain  and  was 
in  command  of  the  guard  over  the  prisoners.  I  sup- 
posed when  I  heard  that  he  was  the  officer  in  command 
that  I  would  get  into  trouble  for  what  I  had  done,  but 
I  heard  nothing  more  about  it  afterwards.  I  have  al- 
ways been  glad  that  he  was  not  an  officer  in  a  Virginia 
command.  We  stopped  on  the  way  to  rest  and  the 
prisoner  whom  I  had  befriended  opened  his  haversack 
and  gave  me  a  lunch  of  bread  and  boiled  ham.  I  had 
not  tasted  food  since  the  day  before  and  was  very 
hungry. 


PRIVATE    JOHN   HENRY   CAMMAOK  131 

We  were  badly  put  to  it  while  I  was  laying  around 
up  at  the  camp,  for  something  to  eat.  As  I  remember, 
there  was  five  or  six  sick  sick  or  crippled  up  men.  One 
of  the  boys  got  a  beefs  head  and  I  furnished  the  pump- 
kin. I  think  the  stuff  was  boiled  a  good  many  hours. 
I  did  not  think  it  tasted  good  or  was  clean  for  that 
matter,  but  this  kind  of  food  was  better  than  nothing. 

Fort  Harrison  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy  on  September,  29th,  it  became  necessary  to 
build  a  fortification  on  the  west,  parallel  with  that  and 
about  three  hundred  yards  from  it.  Shortly  after  this 
we  had  a  terrible  artillery  duel  one  day.  "We  opened 
some  of  our  light  battery  guns  and  about  25  mortars 
on  the  line  and  Fort  in  front  of  us.  We  never  knew 
what  their  losses  were,  but  although  they  opened  a  large 
number  of  guns  on  us  the  execution  was  not  very  great. 
I  have  never  heard  any  greater  noise  made  by  guns 
than  that  day. 

It  would  have  been  foolish  on  our  part  to  storm 
the  place  because  it  had  a  moat  in  front  of  it  and  an 
abattis  in  front  of  that  and  then  small  bombs  very 
thickly  planted  in  front  of  the  abattis  rendering  the 
place  almost  invincible. 

Refined  Cruelty 

The  Captain  of  my  company,  knowing  that  the 
artillery  duel  was  coming  off  that  day,  sent  two  guards 
up  to  the  old  camp  and  brought  down  a  man  confined 
there  in  the  guardhouse.  His  name  was  Haskins,  the 
man  I  have  already  referred  to  as  firing  his  gun  between 
his  toes  and  nearly  severing  one  of  them.     The  Captain 


132  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

had  him  brought  down  to  enjoy  the  noise  of  the  guns. 
A  good  many  of  us  thought  it  was  a  refinement  of 
cruelty.  The  man  could  not  stand  gun  fire,  although 
he  had  a  brother  in  our  company  who  was  as  good  a 
soldier  as  we  had. 

The  days  dragged  on  slowly  into  winter.  Most  of 
the  land  down  in  that  section  had  been  covered  with  a 
thick  growth  of  pine,  little  and  big.  The  ground  was 
all  cut  over  for  firewood  and  for  fortification  timber. 

The  wagon  hauling  out  wood  used  to  come  along 
in  the  morning  and  throw  off  five  or  six  pieces  to  the 
mess,  which  had  to  last  twenty-four  hours.  We  were 
not  very  particular  about  the  cooking  because  there 
was  not  much  of  this  to  do.  But  in  rainy  weather  and 
when  the  weather  was  cold,  this  green,  wet  pine  wood 
made  little  else  than  smoke,  and  we  nearly  froze. 

I  was  detailed  for  a  time  in  the  Engineer  Corps, 
cutting  and  carrying  timber  for  fortifications.  This 
was  exceedingly  hard  labor,  but  it  was  preferable  to 
laying  along  the  wet  and  muddy  lines  and  doing  camp 
and  picket  duty. 

In  Close  Contact 

Along  this  part  of  our  front,  we  were  less  than 
two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  apart.  One  morning  one 
of  the  negro  soldiers  across  from  us  picked  up  his  coffee 
pot  from  the  fire,  in  plain  view  of  us  and,  pouring  some 
good  coffee  into  a  tin  cup,  hallowed  out,  "wouldn't  you 

sons  of  like  to  have  some  good  coffee?"     One 

of  our  fellows  quickly  raised  his  guns  and  fired,  killing 
the  negro. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  133 

This  was  strictly  against  orders.  We  were  com- 
manded not  to  fire  into  the  enemy  without  orders  lest 
we  bring  on  a  general  engagement.  The  soldier  who 
thus  disobeyed  orders  was  arrested  and  taken  to  Castle 
Thunder  prison  at  once.  I  never  knew  what  was  further 
done  with  him.  No  general  fight  occurred  on  account 
of  it  He  said  he  wouldn't  let  any  nigger  talk  to  him 
that  way.  We  had  no  better  coffee  thai^  rye  or  corn 
meal  would  make  and  even  such  as  this  would  make 
was  scarce. 

Daily  Growing  Worse 

The  situation  of  our  army  around  Richmond  and 
Petersburg  was  daily  growing]  more  difficult.  With 
plenty  of  good  food  I  think  Gen.  Lee  could  and  would 
have  maintained  his  lines  around  the  two  cities  for  a 
year  or  maybe  two  years  longer  without  reinforcements, 
but  the  question  of  food  supply  had  long  been  a  live 
one,  both  among  officers  and  men. 

When  November  1st  came,  we  had  practically  but 
one  railroad  from  which  to  get  supplies,  the  one  from 
Weldon,  North  Carolina.  But  is  became  more  and 
more  difficult  for  the  quartermasters  to  ship  sufficient 
supplies  from  the  south.  We  had  been  really  cut  off 
from  obtaining  any  supplies  from  over  the  Fredericks- 
burg road,  because  the  land  had  become  almost  barren 
from  over  culture  and  then  from  lack  of  culture.  From 
the  west  over  the  Virginia  Central,  very  little  could  be 
had.  The  land  was  so  impoverished  it  would  barely 
feed  its  sparsely  inhabited  people. 

The  Valley  of  Virginia  had  been  and  was  being 
robbed  of  everything  that  would  feed  a  crow,  as  the 


134  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

Federal  General  put  it.  The  South  Side  Railroad 
from  Lynchburg  might  have  brought  the  supplies,  but 
they  were  not  to  be  had.  Inroads  and  raids  had  been 
made  here  and  there  from  all  points  of  the  compass  by 
the  enemy.  There  was  not  enough  supplies  in  the 
counties  we  controlled  to  feed  the  army. 

Real  hunger  was  felt  by  almost  all  our  people. 
Sacrifices!  Yes,  greater  than  I  have  ever  known  were 
made  by  Southern  women.  It  was  a  rare  case  too  that 
any  of  them  spoke  ill  of  the  government  or  wanted  us 
to  stop  the  war  and  submit. 

Loyal  Negroes 

We  had  a  vast  number  of  negro  people  among 
us.  Our  women  and  children  all  over  the  South  were 
not  at  all  afraid  of  them.  Nearly  all  of  them  stayed 
while  men  went  to  war.  They  worked  hard  on  the 
farms  and  took  care  of  the  white  folks.  Very  few  cases 
of  anything  but  loyalty  to  their  masters  ever  occurred. 

When  the  Federals  came  into  a  community,  though, 
they  had  nearly  all  the  servants  leave  home  and  go  with 
them.  I  have  known  of  a  great  many  cases  where  the 
black  men  and  women  refused  to  leave  their  white  folks, 
preferring  to  stay  and  work  and  take  care  of  them. 

Very  often  it  was  that  Federal  soldiers  took  negroes 
away  from  their  homes,  by  force,  saying  that  these 
darkies  had  been  slaves  so  long  they  did  not  know 
any  better  than  to  stay  slaves. 

Many  Federal  soldiers  honestly  sympathized  with 
the  negroes  when  they  saw  them  in  these  southern  homes, 
and  they  believed  if  they  would  leave  they  would  assert 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY  CAMMACK  135 

themselves  and  be  happy  in  knowing  themselves  to  be 
free  men. 

While  here  I  was  detailed  to  work  with  the  en- 
gineer force.  A  great  many  men  were  thus  engaged. 
Our  duty  was  to  fell  trees  from  six  inches  to  twelve  or 
sixteen  inches  in  diameter,  trim  them  up  and  carry  them 
out  to  where  the  wagons  could  get  them.  Sometimes 
a  cut  would  be  taken  out  as  long  as  forty-five  or  more 
feet.  Enough  men  would  get  under  the  weight  to  carry 
it.  These  timbers  were  usually  of  pine,  but  sometimes 
of  oak  and  ash  timber.  They  were  used  in  making 
fortifications.  I  remember  the  chief  officer,  under  whom 
I  served,  directed  that  a  certain  man,  a  great  big  fellow, 
whose  name  I  do  not  now  remember,  should  carry  with 
me.  We  used  the  handspike  and  were  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  log.  This  fellow  weighed  about  one  hundred 
and  eighty-five  pounds  and  was  a  great  boaster  about 
his  ability  to  lift.  I  weighed  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two.  This  fellow  was  very  anxious  to  pull  me 
down  in  the  lifting  and  sometimes  I  saw  lots  of  stars 
in  daylight,  but  I  was  always  on  the  watch  and  almost 
always  succeeded  in  getting  the  long  end  of  the  hand 
spike.  In  this  way  only,  could  I  lift  against  this  man. 
The  fellow  worried  about  the  matter  a  good  deal  and 
believed  me  to  be  the  strongest  man  for  my  weight 
that  he  had  ever  seen. 

Our  camp  was  in  low  ground  between  the  fort  and 
the  river  and  as  I  remember  we  had  a  great  deal  of  rain, 
and  when  November  came  in,  we  had  chilly  weather 
and  an  insufficient  amount  of  wood  for  fire,  and  clothing 
and  food  to  make  us  comfortable. 


136        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

Camouflage 

Our  interior  lines  behind  which  we  stood  to  pro- 
tect Richmond  were  about  thirty-five  miles  long.  The 
Federals  had  in  front  of  us,  at  times,  about  one  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand  men.  Their  force  in  front  of 
Petersburg  was  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  men.  We  resorted  to  double  quickening  our 
bands  along  the  lines  and  to  the  making  of  fires  and 
other  things  to  leave  the  impression  that  we  had  a  much 
larger  number  of  troops  than  we  actually  had. 

There  was  no  time  between  October  15th  and  Jan- 
uary, 1865  but  that  our  lines  might  have  been  rushed 
in  a  hundred  different  places  by  the  Federals  with 
twenty-five  thousand  men  and  the  city  taken. 

Gen.  Lee  and  his  Lieutenants  handled  the  army 
in  such  a  way  that  the  enemy  believed  we  had  two  or 
three  times  the  force  that  we  had.  All  this  too  on  less 
than  half  rations.  I  have  said  that  during  the  late 
fall  of  1864  and  during  the  remainder  of  the  winter, 
our  supplies  for  the  army  about  Richmond  and  Peters- 
burg were  all  too  small  because  the  enemy  had  succeeded 
in  cutting  practically  all  of  our  transportation  from  the 
south  except  by  one  railroad. 

There  were  very  frequent  skirmishes  along  and 
around  the  lines  on  both  sides  of  the  river. 

I  have  not  attempted  to  give  anything  like  a  de- 
tailed account  of  the  operations  in  front  of  Richmond 
during  this  year  1864,  first  because  much  of  it  could 
only  be  had  by  a  lengthy  looking  up  of  authority  for 
the  official  statements  of  occurrences  and  in  the  second 
place  I  am  intending  only  to  give,  for  the  most  part, 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY   CAMMACK  137 

some  little  sketches  of  things  that  occurred  that  might 
not  otherwise  be  told. 

A  Dark  Christmas 

I  think  that  Christmas,  1864,  in  and  about  Rich- 
mond was  both  in  the  city  and  on  the  lines,  about  as 
devoid  of  comfort  and  cheer  as  any  Christmas  that  Rich- 
mond ever  experienced.  The  city  was  constantly  menac- 
ed by  an  enemy  of  much  greater  force  than  we  had. 
Then  a  very  large  number  of  people  both  in  the  army 
and  in  the  city,  had  become  greatly  discouraged  and 
felt  that  we  would  never  win  our  independence  as  a 
nation.  Almost  everyone  was  hungry  and  did  not  have 
enough  food  to  make  them  comfortable.  Then,  too,  the 
army  contained  many  thousands  of  men  who  knew  that 
their  families  were  suffering  for  food  and  they  were 
only  restrained  by  their  patriotism  from  deserting  the 
colors  and  going  home.  In  addition  to  this,  there  were 
many  thousands  of  non-combatants  that  could  not  have 
even  one  good  meal  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  fine 
Christmas  dinner  which  the  people  had  enjoyed,  was 
impossible.  The  toys  and  candies,  and  scores  of  pleas- 
ant things  that  children  always  enjoyed,  was  impossible. 

Colonel  Street 

In  the  first  part  of  1864,  I  made  the  acquaintance 
of  a  fine  old  gentleman  from  the  state  of  Mississippi, 
by  the  name  of  Col.  Street.  President  Davis  and  this 
man  were  very  firm  friends.  Col.  Street  was  Mayor  of 
Vicksburg  and  Mr.  Davis  practiced  law  in  his  Court. 
There  was  an  abiding  friendship  which  lasted  during 


138  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

the  lifetime  of  the  President.  I  think  it  was  in  Febru- 
ary, 1864  when  I  met  Col.  Street  for  the  first  time. 
Our  liking  was  mutual,  notwithstanding  the  difference 
in  our  ages.  The  Col.  was  probably  about  seventy-five 
years  old  at  that  time,  full  of  life  and  vim,  a  celebrated 
lawyer,  a  great  traveler,  of  very  kindly  heart  and  pleas- 
ing address.  I  felt  a  great  liking  for  the  man  and  also 
felt  much  honored  when  he  invited  me  to  his  house  for 
dinner  and  afterwards  wanted  that  I  would  make  his 
house  my  home.  I  think  Col.  Street  refugeed  with  about 
forty  of  his  servants  to  Richmond  in  1863.  His  wife 
was  dead  and  I  think  he  had  no  children  living.  Col. 
Street  was  a  wise  man  and  a  statesman.  It  was  said 
that  he  was  the  confidential  advisor  of  the  President. 
I  often  met  him  and  always  felt  better  for  having 
known  him. 

Transferred 

I  have  referred  to  the  fact  that  I  had  made  several 
applications  for  a  transfer  to  another  regiment  engaged 
in  service  fronting  north  West  Virginia.  But  in  each 
case  as  I  have  above  recounted,  my  application  had  been 
disapproved  because  the  Captain  of  my  company  al- 
ways disapproved  of  my  getting  a  transfer.  Late  in 
1864,  being  under  the  command  of  Maj.  Gen.  Custis 
Lee,  and  having  some  social  acquaintance  with  him. 
I  went  over  to  his  headquarters  and  advised  with  him 
about  the  matter.  He  was  very  kind  and  finding  that 
Gen.  Pemberton,  the  commander  of  the  District  of 
Richmond,  had  refused  my  application  because  Capt. 
Barlow  had  disapproved,  he  said  that  if  he  was  in  my 


PRIVATE    JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  139 

place  he  would  write  Gen.  R.  E.  Lee,  and  explain  the 
situation  and  he  thought  that  would  get  it.  This  I 
did  and  my  application  was  returned  to  the  battalion 
approved,  although  Capt.  Barlow  had  turned  it  down. 
I  had  certain  evidence  that  my  application  had  been 
returned  with  the  approval  of  Gen.  Lee,  but  the  Maj. 
of  my  battalion  and  the  Captain  of  my  company  de- 
cided they  would  not  give  it  to  me.  I  waited  to  hear 
from  them  for  several  days  after  I  knew  that  the  paper 
had  come  back  from  Gen.  Lee,  with  his  approval  and 
then  I  decided  to  go,  in  spite  of  their  withholding  the 
paper. 

Therefore  on  the  seventh  or  the  ninth  of  January, 
1865,  I  asked  for  a  twenty-four  hour  pass  to  go  to 
Richmond.  This  was  the  longest  time  for  which  a 
pass  could  be  obtained. 

After  reaching  the  city,  I  hunted  up  my  friend 
Col.  Street  and  told  him  I  wanted  a  pass  to  go  to 
Gordonsville  and  related  the  circumstances  to  him.  He 
said  that  he  would  go  with  me.  He  took  me  to  Gen. 
Winder's  office.  Winder  was  at  that  time  Provost  Mar- 
shall and  in  command  of  the  city  of  Richmond.  When 
we  entered  the  office.  Col.  Street  introduced  me  to  an 
officer  as  his  friend  Maj.  Cammack.  He  ordered  that 
he  give  me  a  passport  over  the  Virginia  Central  to 
Gordonsville.  The  officer  was  very  clever  and  ordered 
it  written  at  once.  While  this  was  being  done  he  con- 
versed with  me  very  pleasantly  and  wished  me  a  happy 
trip. 

I  bade  Col.  Street  good  bye  about  eleven  o'clock  and 
took  the  train  at  17th  and  Main  for  Gordonsville,  which 
I  reached  between  two  and  three  o'clock  that  afternoon. 


140        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OP 

I  do  not  remember  how  far  below  Gordonsville  in  the 
direction  of  Orange  Court  house  that  I  found  my  old 
Regiment,  the  20th  Cavalry,  on  the  twenty-third  of 
December.  Previous  to  my  arrival  the  brigade,  or  a 
considerable  part  of  it,  had  an  engagement  with  the 
enemy,  known  as  the  battle  of  Gordonsville.  The  officers 
and  men  of  m}^  regiment  were  glad  to  see  me. 

Rejoining  My  Regiment 

I  explained  to  Col.  Arnett  how  it  came  about  that 
I  reported  in  the  manner  I  did.  He  was  very  glad 
I  had  decided  to  come  back  to  the  regiment.  Some  days 
after  this  Capt.  Barlow,  sent  a  letter  to  Col.  Arnett, 
asking  if  I  was  with  his  Regiment  and  requesting  that 
I  be  sent  back  to  Richmojid.  Col.  Arnett  answered 
him  and  said,  "Yes,  he  is  here  and  if  you  send  for  him 
you  would  best  send  as  much  as  a  brigade  of  soldiers 
if  you  expect  to  take  him  back." 

Shortly  after  this  our  Regiment  went  to  Hightown 
in  Highland  County  to  get  feed  for  our  horses  and  wait 
there  for  mounts,  a  great  many  of  the  men  having  lost 
their  horses  during  the  last  campaign. 

The  animals  we  had  were  very  poor  and  not  able 
to  carry  us.  There  is  probably  no  better  place  in  this 
country  for  stock  in  winter,  because  the  land  is  rich 
and  particularly  adapted  to  the  growth  of  the  finest 
blue  grass  I  ever  saw.  When  the  ground  is  not  covered 
deeply  with  snow  in  winter  both  cattle  and  horses  can 
get  an  abundance  of  luscious  green  grass  near  the 
ground.  This  was  a  fine  place  to  have  our  Cavalry 
horses  in  winter  and  particularly  so  because  we  could 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  141 

get  but  very  little  grain  to  feed  them.  Rations  for 
ourselves  were  hard  to  get  and  we  did  not  have  much 
variety  of  food. 

One  of  the  men  and  I  went  to  a  farm  house  looking 
for  dinner  one  day.  Finding  that  a  widow  lived  with 
her  little  girl  and  two  boys,  ten  and  twelve  years  old 
we  proposed  to  cut  up  into  firewood  some  trees  near 
her  house  and  in  return  we  would  want  something  to 
eat  occasionally.  This  she  readily  agreed  to  give  us. 
Well,  my  partner  was  a  strong  man  and  a  good  wood 
chopper,  and  as  the  lady  had  plenty  to  eat  we  fared 
sumptuously  for  a  couple  of  weeks. 

We  had  a  young  man  in  our  command  who  was  a 
bright,  jolly  fellow,  possessed  of  a  fairly  good  education 
and  a  good  deal  of  literary  ability  and  with  this  he 
had  a  keen  perception  of  humor  and  was  usually  the 
life  of  the  party. 

A  Good  Joker 

We  were,  as  as  I  have  said,  hard  put  to  it  for 
enough  rations  to  live  on.  About  fourteen  of  us  occu- 
pied the  kitchen  of  an  old  abandoned  farm  house.  One 
evening  the  above  mentioned  young  fellow  said,  "Boys 
there  has  been  a  diabolical  crime  committed  in  this 
community  recently  and  I  have  gotten  on  to  it  and 
lest  something  happens  to  me,  (as  I  am  the  only  wit- 
ness) I  have  written  down  here  and  think  you  should 
be  in  possession  of  the  facts.''  Wliereupon  all  the 
boys  became  quiet  and  on  tiptoe  of  expectation. 

He  began  a  very  beautiful  description  of  the  fine 
little  valley  in  which  we  were  encamped  and  told  about 
its   settlement   giving  the   names  of  a   number   of  the 


142        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

settlers  and  the  present  occupants  of  the  farms  ad- 
jacent to  us.  The  story  went  on  to  say  that  one  even- 
ing recently  two  men  were  seen  by  him  to  come  through 
the  field  about  one  hundred  yards  from  where  we  now 
stood.  They  stopped  just  after  they  crossed  the  fence 
at  the  roadside.  They  whispered  to  each  other  for  two 
or  three  minutes  and  one  of  them  drew  a  long  keen 
looking  knife  from  under  his  coat  and  he  could  see  by 
the  light  of  the  moon  that  it  shone  like  burnished  silver. 
Presently  a  noise  was  heard  not  far  away  on  the  road 
as  though  someone  was  approaching.  He  felt  vile 
murder  was  about  to  be  committed  by  these  ruffians, 
but  he  was  frozen  witb  fright.  He  felt  that  his  life 
would  in  all  probability  be  taken  if  he  should  let  his 
presence  be  known  by  an  outcry  that  would  put  the 
coming  one  on  his  guard.  He  was  torn  by  conflicting 
feelings.  He  had  recognized  one  of  the  villians  and 
knew  him  to  be  a  man  that  loved  bloodshed  and  he  was 
unarmed.  He  scarcely  could  contain  himself  but  dared 
not  make  a  noise.  It  was  probably  only  a  minute  or  so, 
but  it  seemed  an  age  to  the  fellow,  when  he  heard  the 
men  move  and  saw  them  jump  into  the  road  and  saw 
one  of  the  scoundrels  raise  his  arm  and  strike.  He 
could  scarcely  retain  his  quietude  any  longer.  He  heard 
a  terrible  groan  and  jumped  into  the  road  quickly  and 
found  one  of  farmer  Ruffner's  hundred  and  fifty  pound 
hogs,  bleeding  to  death  from  a  deep  gash  cut  in  his 
throat. 

Defending  Staunton 

In  the  early  spring  not  later  than  March  10th,  we 
received  orders  to  move  to  the  valley  to  prevent  Sheri- 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY   CAMMACK  143 

dan  from  taking  and  occupying  Staunton,  Virginia,  and 
wiping  out  the  small  army  of  Gen.  Early.  Not  more 
than  three  fifths  of  the  command  was  mounted.  Our 
horses  had  broken  down,  worn  out,  and  many  of  them 
were  too  far  gone  to  recuperate,  during  our  stay  at 
Hightown.  "We  moved  on  over  to  Augusta  County,  the 
intention  being  to  strike  Sheridan  in  the  flank  and  har- 
rass  him  as  much  as  possible. 

Capt.  Camp  took  out  a  detail  of  ten  men,  of  whom 
I  was  one,  to  go  down  through  Augusta  County  and 
impress  a  sufficient  number  of  horses  for  our  use.  He 
was  instructed  to  give  warrants  or  orders  on  the  gov- 
ernment to  the  owners. 

I  remember  we  came  to  a  house  not  far  from  I\Iossy 
Creek,  where  we  were  informed  that  the  farmer  was  not 
at  home.  We  knew  he  was  known  as  a  Union  man  and 
we  supposed  he  had  gone  to  the  enemy.  We  were  met 
with  a  flat  refusal  to  let  any  of  the  horses  go,  although 
they  had  several  very  good  ones  on  the  farm. 

We  saw  two  women,  the  mother  and  her  daughter. 
We  took  one  horse  for  immediate  use,  promising  to  re- 
turn the  animal  in  two  weeks.  They  refused  to  receive 
an  order  for  the  price  of  the  animal.  One  of  those 
women  followed  us  a  half  mile  with  a  gun  trying  to 
shoot  us.  Nearly  all  along  this  valley  near  the  mount- 
ains were  numerous  families  who  were  dis-loyal  to  the 
South.  Some  of  the  people  were  Dunkards  or  Friends 
who  were  conscientiously  opposed  to  war,  and  the  gov- 
ernment did  not  force  such  into  the  Army.  Some,  how- 
ever, were  opposed  to  the  South  and  in  every  way  pos- 
sible gave  information  to  the  enemy  and  often  gave 
out  stories  to  the  detriment  of  their  southern  neighbors 


144  PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF 

causing  some  to  be  killed  or  made  prisoners  and  their 
property  confiscated  or  destroyed. 

There  were  very  many  of  these  people  who  were 
really  bitter  enemies  to  our  cause,  but  they  were,  in 
very  many  cases,  allowed  to  live  among  our  people 
entirely  unmolested  and  yet,  as  we  had  good  reason 
to  believe  were  doing  everything  they  could  against  our 
cause  and  government. 

That  day,  I  remember,  we  came  to  a  large  farm, 
where  they  had  seventeen  horses.  The  gentleman  was 
at  home  and  his  wife  and  two  young  ladies,  his  daught- 
ers. 

This  gentleman  was  a  breeder  of  horses  and  had  a 
few  extra  fine  animals,  one  especially  was  the  fastest 
racker  I  had  even  seen. 

The  Lieut.  Col.  of  our  regiment  told  Capt.  Camp 
and  myself,  that  he  was  especially  anxious  to  have  that 
horse  for  himself.  The  animal  was  an  iron  gray  in 
color,  seven  years  old  and  weighed  about  eleven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds,  probably  the  best  trained  horse 
in  the  valley  of  Virginia.  Every  member  of  the  family 
feared  we  would  take  him  and  the  master  of  the  house 
began  to  argue  and  insist.  He  said  if  we  would  leave 
Abdallah,  he  would  give  us  three  other  horses. 

The  Capt.  felt  that  our  duty  was  to  take  the  horse 
with  us.  I  objected  and  finally  told  him,  I  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  taking  him,  and  at  last  the 
Capt.  agreed  to  leave  him.  All  three  of  the  ladies  were 
at  the  barn  crying  bitterly  because  they  thought  we 
were  going  to  take  their  favorite  horse.  "We  left  him 
and  I  think  we  left  about  as  happy  a  family  as  I  ever 
saw. 


PRIVATE    JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  145 

Grandfather  Bruce 

Sheridan  went  down  the  valley  that  day,  having 
captured  and  destroyed  Early's  force  at  "Waynesboro. 
It  was  here  that  Gen.  Wm.  Harmon,  the  most  famous 
lawyer  of  Staunton,  was  killed.  Mr.  Bruce,  a  man  at 
that  time  more  than  ninety  years  old,  who  was  my  wife 's 
grandfather,  was  walking  up  and  down  the  porch  at 
Esq.  Bruce 's  house.  Mr.  Bruce  was  gone  and  there 
was  none  of  the  family  at  home  except  the  ladies  and 
the  servants.  They  all  took  refuge  in  the  cellar,  but 
grandfather  would  not  go.  When  his  daughter-in-law, 
Mrs.  Bruce,  came  up  and  urged  him  to  go  to  the  cellar 
he  would  not,  and  said,  "Why  should  such  a  man  as 
I  flee  from  bullets  and  hide  myself."  He  had  been  a 
soldier  in  his  youth,  was  a  Scotchman,  and  would  not 
hide  himself  from  danger. 

Waynesboro,  is  a  small  town  near  the  foot  of  the 
Blue  Eidge  mountains,  the  North  river  running  imme- 
diately west  of  it,  vrith  a  steep  bank  overlooking  the 
town  from  the  west.  The  wagon  train  was  headed 
toward  the  west  with  the  troops  drawn  up  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river.  Sheridan  attacked  with  a  much  larg- 
er force  and  drove  our  men  into  the  river  drowning 
many  of  them  and  capturing  a  considerable  number 
of  them.  The  wagon  train  was  captured  and  it  was 
said  that  Gen.  Early  went  to  Richmond  with  less  than 
fifty  men. 

Wliatever  military  critics  may  say  condemnatory 
of  Gen.  Earlys'  work  as  a  successful  leader  of  an  army, 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  on  many  fields  he  showed  mili- 
tary genius  of  a  high  degree,  and  his  ability  to  fight 


146  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

and  his  willingness  to  do  so,  were  never  questioned 
by  his  solders,  or  newspaper  critics. 

He  was  a  soldier  in  his  youth  after  he  left  the 
military  academy,  and  he  served  in  Mexico  as  Adj. 
of  a  Regiment.  After  the  Mexican  war  he  went  into 
his  law  practice  at  Liberty,  Virginia.  After  the  war 
of  the  sitxies  he  practiced  his  profession  in  Lynchburg, 
Virginia. 

That  portion  of  our  brigade  that  I  had  been  with 
at  Hightown  mounted  itself  on  the  way,  as  well  and 
quickly  as  we  could  and  hurried  to  intercept  Sheridan 
on  his  retreat  down  the  valley,  after  the  Waynesboro 
fight.  Our  only  hope  was  to  strike  him  in  the  flank 
and  worry  him  somewhat  in  his  retreat.  We  knew 
we  did  not  have  half  force  enough  to  get  into  a  general 
engagement  with  this  famous  command  at  that  time. 

When  we  reached  the  valley  pike,  we  found  that 
the  Federal  rear  guards  had  passed  that  point  several 
hours  before  our  arrival. 


At  this  point,  during  the  most  exciting  events  of 
the  war,  dealing  with  the  siege  around  Richmond  and 
the  stirring  finale  of  the  Confederacy,  father's  story 
abruptly  ends. 

There  is  evidence  that  he  was  arranging  to  com- 
plete the  narrative  when  his  last  sickness  overtook 
him. 

We  know,  in  a  large  measure,  what  events  followed. 

Lee  was  finally  overwhelmed  by  numbers.  The 
Federals   kept   on   encroaching  upon   the   fortifications 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY  CAMMACK  147 


around  Richmond.  Neither  supurb  generalship  nor 
the  intense  loyalty  and  fighting  ability  of  a  band  of 
soldiers,  such  as  the  world  has  rarely  seen,  could  com- 
pensate for  lack  of  munitions,  food  and  men,  in  the 
face   of   overwhelming  numbers   and   equipment. 

The  final  chapter  came  with  the  surrender  of  Lee 
at  Appamattox  in  April,  1865. 

Father  was  not  within  the  fortifications  of  Rich- 
mond when  this  occurred.  At  his  own  request  and 
contrary  to  the  wishes  of  Capt.  Barlow  he  had  been 
transferred  to  his  own  regiment  in  the  Valley  of  Vir- 
ginia. 

He  has  related  many  times  that,  while  he  was  not 
a  "fire-eater"  and  did  not  have  a  thirst  for  blood,  that 
yet,  when  they  heard  of  the  surrender,  he  and  his 
comrades  could  not  believe  it.  They  would  not  believe 
it,  in  fact.  They  held  counsels  of  war  and  planned  that 
if  Lee  had  actually  surrendered,  they  would  start  to 
N.  C.  where  there  was  a  large  body  of  Confederate 
forces,  would  form  a  new  nucleus  and  keep  the  fight 
up,  because  they  were  sure  of  victory  in  the  end. 

After  fuller  information  of  the  complete  dismem- 
berment of  the  Confederate  forces  had  reached  them, 
they  gave  up  this  war-like  plan,  accepted  honorable 
discharges  from  the  army,  and  each  man,  dispirited, 
broken,  overpowered,  but  still  with  head  up  and  the 
fires  of  loyalty  burning  as  brightly  as  ever,  started  on 
his  way  home  to  re-build  what  four  years  of  bloody 
conflict  had  torn  down. 

Father's  health  was  so  impaired  from  wounds  and 
constant  exposures,  that  he  was  not  able  to  undertake 
the  trip  to  his  home  in  Harrison  County.     Such  money 


148        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

as  he  had  received  was  worthless,  so  he  could  not  pay 
his  way  on  the  train.  Therefore  he  went  for  a  rest 
to  the  always  hospitable  home  of  his  Uncle  Peter  Manly 
in  Fluvanna  County,  where  he  remained  until  early 
in  June. 

Having  recuperated  sufificienth"  he  started  walking 
the  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  across  the  mountains 
from  Fluvanna  County  to  his  home  in  Harrison  County, 
which  place  he  reached  sore  and  weary  after  a  month 
of  continuous  walking. 

There  are  no  words  that  express  the  joy  of  his 
father  and  mother  upon  his  return.  The  only  thing 
that  marred  the  joy  of  the  family  was  that  his  brother 
Lucius,  who  had  gone  forth  with  him  from  Clarksburg 
on  the  18th  day  of  May  over  four  years  before,  was 
now  in  a  poorly  marked  grave,  where  his  body  had  been 
placed  following  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain  in  Aug- 
ust. 1862. 

He  found  his  father's  little  farm  in  fairly  good 
shape  and  he  resumed  his  work  on  the  farm. 

It  would  not  be  fitting  that  his  plain  and  frank 
story  of  his  experiences  in  the  war  should  be  ended 
with  a  eulogy  by  the  writer  of  this  completing  note. 

In  entering  the  Confederate  army  he  was  inspired 
purely  by  love  for  his  state  and  the  cause  it  had  es- 
poused. He  fought  a  good  fight.  He  kept  the  faith. 
He  fought  in  the  day  when  manhood  and  chivalry 
dictated  the  rules  of  war.  He  came  out  of  the  con- 
flict broken  in  body  but  unbroken  in  spirit. 

He  did  his  fighting  during  the  course  of  the  con- 
flict, from  1861  to  1865.  and  then  stopped. 

— L.  H.  C. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  l49 

From  Eighteen  Sixty-five  to  Nineteen-twenty 

It  was  no  doubt  the  intention  of  the  writer  of  the 
foregoing  personal  recollections  of  the  war,  to  com- 
plete his  task  by  filling  in  a  few  of  the  salient  facts  of 
the  intervening  years,  but  with  only  brief  notice  his 
health  began  rapidly  to  fail  in  the  summer  of  1919  and 
there  was  hardly  a  time  from  then  until  his  death,  on 
May  6th,  1920  when  it  was  possible  for  him  to  continue 
the  narrative. 

For  this  reason  a  few  of  the  important  facts  of 
his  life  are  given. 

After  Appamattox  the  outlook  for  the  Southern 
soldier  under  the  reconstruction  period  and,  with  the 
wreck  of  his  home  land  facing  him,  was  indeed  gloomy. 

But  John  Henry  Cammack  was  a  born  optimist. 
There  was  always  a  cheery  fringe  to  the  cloud.  He 
accepted  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword  and  abode  by 
the  decision.  He  quit  fighting  when  Lee  surrendered, 
though  as  intimated  in  the  last  chapter,  he  wanted 
to  be  good  and  sure  that  the  fight  was  all  over  before 
he  laid  down  his  arms. 

After  a  rest  in  Fluvanna  County,  in  the  Spring 
of  1865,  he  trudged  his  weary  way  across  the  mountains 
to  his  father's  home  in  Harrison  County,  now  West 
Virginia,  and  resumed  his  work  on  the  little  farm. 

In  October  1866  he  was  married  to  Mary  Jane 
Fox,  and  they  began  housekeeping  in  a  cottage  on  the 
banks  of  Elk  Creek  in  Clarksburg. 

He  had  learned  the  cigar  making  business  in  his 
early  youth,  having  worked  at  this  trade  in  Staunton, 
Virginia  and  at  Lexington. 


150        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

In  the  early  part  of  1868  he  moved  to  Williams- 
town,  W.  Va.  and  started  a  cigar  making  business  of 
his  own.  On  account  of  living  conditions  and  work, 
he  moved  to  Marietta,  Ohio,  for  a  time  and  then  back 
to  Williamstown,  where  he  built  a  home. 

It  was  at  WiUiamstown  that  he  met  Rev.  W.  P. 
Walker,  who  was  at  that  time  pastor  of  the  Williams- 
town  and  Willow  Island  churches,  and,  although  not 
a  church  member,  he  became  an  ardent  admirer  and 
warm  personal  friend  of  the  pastor. 

He  was  converted  and  joined  the  Williamstown 
Baptist  church  in  1869  and  the  following  year  was 
elected  a  deacon,  which  office  he  retained  in  the  Wil- 
liamstown and  later  on  in  the  Huntington  church  for 
over  half  a  century. 

Three  children  were  born,  Lucius  H.,  John  Willie 
and  Charles  W.     Willie  died  in  infancy. 

In  1875,  in  company  with  Capt.  As.  Athey  and 
some  other  friends  he  bought  the  steamer  Cataraugus 
and,  for  a  time  abandoning  the  cigar  business,  shipped 
as  clerk  on  the  steamer  which  was  plying  the  Little 
Kanawha  between  Parkersburg  and  Elizabeth. 

This  experience  lasted  for  a  couple  of  years,  after 
which  he  sold  his  interest,  moved  to  Marietta,  Ohio,  and 
re-entered  the  cigar  business. 

His  physician  insisted  that  the  close  confinement 
of  the  cigar  factory  and  his  tendency  to  smoke  too  much 
was  injuring  his  health  and  advised  him  to  get  out. 
Brother  Walker  had,  in  the  meantime,  been  called  to 
take  charge  of  the  little  church  which  had  been  organiz- 
ed in  Huntington,  a  new  town  down  the  river  from 
Marietta,   one  hundred   and  thirty   miles.      He   began 


PRIVATE   JOHN   fiBNRY   CAMMACK  151 

urging  his  friend  Cammack  to  move  to  Huntington 
and  enter  some  other  line  of  business. 

Finally  arrangements  were  made  for  the  move  to 
Huntington.  In  connection  with  a  Mr.  Campbell,  the 
Dana  stock  of  ladies  and  gentlemen's  wearing  apparel 
was  bought  and  on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  February, 
1878  the  family,  the  household  goods  and  the  stock  of 
merchandise  were  shipped  on  the  steamer  Katie  Stock- 
dale  for  Huntington,  arriving  there  before  daylight 
on  the  morning  of  the  28th.  The  family  quartered  at 
the  leading  hotel,  the  Continental,  owned  by  Felix 
Ware  and  located  at  the  corner  of  Second  Avenue  and 
Eighth  Street.  This  building  has,  in  more  recent  years, 
been  used  by  the  Union  Mission,  of  which  organization, 
a  son,  C.  W.  Cammack,  has  been  president. 

The  family  moved  into  one-half  of  a  double  house 
on  Fourth  Avenue,  just  below  eighth  street.  This  house 
is  one  of  the  spots  that  has  not  suffered  any  change  in 
forty  years,  but  stands  today,  exactly  as  it  did  in 
February,   1878,  though  very  differently  surrounded. 

The  wearing  apparel  business  was  started  in  the 
Lallance  building,  on  the  corner  of  Third  Avenue  and 
Eighth  Street.  At  this  time  the  Baptist  church,  under 
the  leadership  of  Dr.  Walker,  held  its  services  in  the 
room  upstairs  over  the  store. 

In  1890  he  quit  the  merchandise  business  and  in 
company  with  his  old  comrade  and  friend,  J.  N.  Potts, 
entered  the  Real  Estate  and  Insurance  business  in  a 
building  where  the  Deardoff-Sisler  store  now  stands. 

Later  on  he  went  into  the  same  business  in  part- 
nership with  his  son  C.  W.  Cammack,  which  relation 
existed  uninterruptedly  until  the  time  of  his  death. 


152        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

In  the  spring  of  1919  his  health  began  to  show  a 
marked  decline.  He  was  a  soldier  all  the  way  through. 
The  outlook  was  always  cheerful.  He  did  not  com- 
plain except  when  in  great  pain,  and  then  uniformly 
laughed  the  matter  off  as  of  no  importance. 

Those  about  him  could  see  readily  that  he  was  not 
improving  and  consultation  with  doctors  and  specialists 
was  not  reassuring. 

The  average  man  would  probably  have  gone  to  bed 
and  given  up  hope,  but  he  did  not.  Never  for  a  moment 
did  he  admit  to  anyone  about  him  that  he  thought  he 
might  not  get  well,  until  a  few  weeks  before  his  final 
caU. 

That  front  porch  to  the  little  bungalow  at  638 
Fifth  Avenue,  where  he  spent  the  most  of  his  days  for 
a  year  and  a  half,  was  a  cheerful  spot  and  the  mecca 
for  hundreds  of  visitors.  They  always  found  him  smil- 
ing, hospitable,  thoughtful,  always  joking,  never  sad 
or  depressed. 

The  culmination  of  the  tragedy  came  on  the  even- 
ing of  May  sixth,  1920,  after  great  torture,  and  yet, 
only  seven  days  before,  he  had  lain  on  his  cot  and  taken 
an  active  part  in  the  deliberations  of  Camp  Garnett 
Confederate  Veterans,  which  body  of  comrades  had  held 
its  monthly  meetings  for  a  long  time  on  this  porch. 

We  would  not  write  his  epitaph.  It  is  engraved 
in  the  hearts  of  his  family  and  friends  as  imperishably 
as  if  chiseled  in  stone. 


PRIVATE    JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  153 


Press  Notices  and  Other  Papers  Relating  to 
the  Life  and  Death  of  John  Henry  Cam- 
mack. 

From  the  Herald-Dispatch,  Friday,  May  7,  1920. 

John  Henry  Cammack  is  dead.  The  end  came  to 
this  honored  Huntingtonian  at  six  o'clock,  Thursday 
evening  at  his  residence.  638  Fifth  Avenue.  He  was 
76  years  old. 

Death  followed  an  illness  which  began  more  than 
a  year  ago,  but  which  was  so  resisted  by  this  man  of 
unconquerable  spirit  that  it  confined  him  to  his  death 
bed  only  about  two  weeks.  The  extremity  of  his  sick- 
ness developed  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  week 
and  from  that  time  it  was  realized  that  the  end  was 
very  near. 

Watching  beside  him  in  these  trying  last  hours, 
as  she  had  walked  beside  through  a  happy  married  life 
of  54  years,  was  his  wife,  who,  despite  her  years  and 
the  weight  of  her  sorrow  at  this  separation,  is  bearing 
up  bravely. 

His  sons,  Lucius  H.  Cammack  and  C.  W.  Cammack, 
were  also  with  him,  when  the  end  came. 

Provisional  funeral  arrangements  effected  last 
night  fix  the  time  for  the  services  at  4  o'clock,  Saturday 


1&4  PERSONAL  RECOLLEC5TIONS  OF 

afternoon.     The  funeral  will  probably  be  at  the  resi- 
dence.    Interment  will  be  at  Spring  Hill  cemetery. 

In  these  days  of  intensive  religious  activities  among 
the  young  people  of  the  land  stress  is  being  laid  on  the 
development  of  the  fourfold  life,  a  development  which 
had  a  living  exponent  in  John  Henry  Cammack.  who, 
as  a  man,  soldier,  citizen  and  churchman,  stood  forth 
throughout  life  as  one  of  whom  it  might  be  truly  said 
that  he  stood  four-square  to  every  wind. 

GALLANT   SOLDIEE 

Among  distinctions  in  life  were  that  he  was  a  gal- 
lant soldier  of  the  Confederacy,  50  years  a  deacon  in 
the  Baptist  church,  for  15  years  commander  of  Camp 
Garnett  and  for  40  years  a  citizen  of  Huntington,  hon- 
orable and  without  reproach,  dealing  uprightly  with  all 
and  showing  mercy  and  kindness  wherever  he  might. 

John  Henry  Cammack  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Rockingham  county,  Virginia,  on  December  22,  1843. 

As  a  boy  he  worked  in  Staunton,  Va.,  and  was 
there  when  the  Chesapeake  di  Ohio  railway  was  building 
in  1857.  During  this  residence  in  Staunton  he  was 
a  Sunday  school  pupil  of  Mary  Baldwin,  principal  of 
Mary  Baldwin  Seminary.  For  a  time  previous  to  the 
war  he  was  at  Lexington,  Va.,  and  there  his  Sunday 
school  teacher  was  Professor  T.  J.  (Stonewall)  Jackson. 

At  the  age  of  17,  May  18,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  the 
Confederate  army  at  Clarksburg,  Harrison  county,  un- 
der Captain  A.  M.  Turner.  His  first  engagement  was 
with  Colonel  Partridge  at  the  taking  of  Grafton,  May 
21,  1861.     He  was  in  the  first  battle  of  Phillipi,  June  1, 


PRIVATE   JOHN    HENRY   CAMMACK  155 


1861,  and  his  regiment,  the  Thirty-first  Virginia,  was 
on  the  famous  Laurel  hill  retreat  through  Maryland, 
finally  making  a  stand  at  Monterey,  Va.,  July  18,  1861. 

WITH  GENERAL  GARNETT 

He  was  with  General  Garnett  (from  whom  Gar- 
nett  Camp,  United  Confederate  Veterans,  took  its 
name)  20  minutes  before  that  officer  was  killed  at  Car- 
rick's  Ford,  on  Cheat  river.  He  later  served  under 
General  Henry  R.   Jackson  and   Stonewall  Jackson. 

In  January,  1862,  wounded  and  sick,  he  was  sent 
to  a  hospital  as  incurable,  but  within  a  few  weeks  he 
rejoined  his  regiment  and  took  part  in  the  seven  days 
battle  around  Richmond. 

His  service  with  the  Confederate  army  ended  only 
with  the  surrender  at  Appomattox. 

During  the  war  his  fathers'  family  resided  near 
Clarksburg,  and  it  was  while  on  a  visit  home,  to  ac- 
complish which  he  ran  the  lines  of  the  enemy  that  he 
met  Molly  Jane  Fox,  then  a  house  guest  of  his  mother. 
This  romantic  meeting  resulted  in  the  marriage  of  the 
young  couple  on  October  7,  1866. 

For  a  number  of  years  after  the  war  Mr,  and  Mrs. 
Cammack  lived  at  Williamstown.  When  they  came  to 
Huntington,  journeying  down  the  Ohio  river  by  steam- 
boat, they  found  a  village  of  2,000  people.  Mr.  Cam- 
mack  entered  the  clothing  business  at  Eighth  street  and 
Third  avenue,  but  in  1890  he  entered  the  real  estate 
business  with  his  old  comrade,  J.  N.  Potts.  In  more 
recent  years  he  was  associated  with  his  son,  C.  W.  Cam- 
mack,  and  W.  L.  Reece.     As  a  real  estate  operator  he 


156        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

was  a  pioneer  on  lower  Fourth  avenue,  and  on  the  South 
Side.  His  business  career  was  never  spectacular,  but 
was  so  consistently  successful  that  he  accumulated  an 
estate  of  no  inconsiderable  proportions. 

WAS    CHURCHMAN 

Mr.  Cammack  became  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church  in  1869  at  Williamstown,  where  he  was  ordained 
as  deacon  in  1870.  During  this  long  church  life  he 
had  but  two  pastors,  Dr.  AA".  P.  Walker  and  Dr.  M.  L. 
Wood.  Dr.  Walker  was  pastor  at  Williamstown  before 
he  came  to  Huntington  to  become  pastor  of  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Baptist  church. 

In  1883  Mr.  Cammack  helped  build  the  old  Fifth 
Avenue  Baptist  church  at  Fifth  avenue  and  Tenth 
street.  He  helped  remodel  and  enlarge  this  church  in 
1895  and  was  on  the  building  committee  which  directed 
the  construction  of  the  new  Temple  at  the  corner  of 
Fifth  avenue  and  Twelfth  street,  dedicated  in  April, 
1919. 

He  was  a  Sunday  school  man  and  worker,  and  in 
this  field  he  sowed  seed  which  brought  forth  much  fruit, 
as  he  organized  the  Sunday  school  which  grew  into  the 
Twentieth  Street  Baptist  cliurch,  and  later  organized 
a  Sunday  school  at  Central  City,  from  which  nucleus 
the  Washington  Avenue  Baptist  church  was  evolved. 

Much  of  the  best  thought  and  tenderest  considera- 
tion, especially  during  the  closing  years  of  his  life,  was 
for  his  old  comrades  of  the  Confederate  army.  For 
a  year  before  his  death  Garnett  Camp  met  regularly 
at  his  home.    The  last  meeting  was  held  there  on  Satur- 


PRIVATE    JOHN    HENRY   CAMMACK  157 

day,  April  29.  Lying  in  his  bed  he  took  an  active  part 
in  the  session  and  had  a  parting  word  with  each  member 
of  the  camp. 

He  is  survived  by  his  widow,  Mary  J.  Cammack, 
two  sons,  L.  H.  and  C.  W.  Cammack,  two  brothers, 
George  A.  Cammack  of  ]\It.  Vernon,  Mo.,  Charles  A. 
Cammack  of  Ray,  Colorado  and  two  sisters,  Mrs.  Rebecca 
Flint  of  Lincoln,  Neb.,  and  Mrs.  Nellie  McKeean  of 
Schuyler,  Neb.  A  niece,  Miss  Irene  Flint,  has  been  a 
resident  of  Huntington  for  several  years  and  was  con- 
stantly with  him  during  his  long  illness. 


Editorial  from  The  Herald-Dispatch,  Saturday  May,  8. 
JOHN  HENRY  CAMMACK 

A  sturdy  pillar  in  the  early  foundation  of  Hunt- 
ington is  fallen.  John  Henry  Cammack,  who  came 
to  Huntington  in  the  first  years  of  manhood,  and  to 
whom  it  was  given  to  see  the  city  of  his  choice  and 
liis  love  scale  the  heights  of  progress,  abundant  in 
people,  abundant  in  civic  and  relig'ioiLs  institutions, 
has  finished  a  goodly  life,  and  now  sleeps  the  sleep  of 
the  just. 

While  a  man  of  peace  and  one  whose  life  was 
devoted  to  the  upbuilding  of  peaceful  institutions,  Mr. 
Cammack 's  first  contact  with  the  stern  realities  of  the 
world  impressed  him  to  the  last  day  of  his  seventy-six 
years.  For  it  was  his  opportunity — and  none  who  knew 
him  well  could  say  that  lie  regarded  it  in  any  other 
light — it  was  his  opportunity,   we   repeat,   to  cast  his 


158  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

youthful  fortunes  with  the  South  when  fateful  secti- 
onal warfare  arrayed  the  sons  of  America  in  deadly 
hostility. 

To  be  permitted  to  march  under  the  glorious  ban- 
ners of  Lee  and  Stonewall  Jackson  was  a  privilege  of 
which  he  never  ceased  to  be  proud,  and  the  disciplined 
mind  and  erect  figure,  the  fruits  of  that  experience, 
were  strikingly  apparent  through  all  the  long  years 
between  Appomattox  and  the  hour  of  final  rest,  which 
came  early  Thursday  evening.  When  the  war  ended 
he  accepted  the  verdict ;  and,  while  cherishing  with 
never-failing  devotion  the  ideals  for  which  he  fought, 
he  venerated  the  Stars  and  Stripes  with  true  patriotic 
fervor.  Only  Americans  could  fight  as  the  men  of  the 
South  fought.  They  needed  no  repatriation  when  it 
Avas  over. 

In  his  life  in  Huntington  Mr.  Cammack  exempli- 
fied the  highest  of  citizen  virtues.  Dignified,  kindly  in 
demeanor,  he  won  the  respect  that  leads  to  liking  and 
the  confidence  upon  which  true  friendships  rest. 

Probably,  in  all  his  varied  experiences,  his  career 
as  a  churchman  stamped  itself  most  clearly  upon  the 
community.  From  early  manhood  to  the  days  of  in- 
firmity he  was  a  tower  of  strength  in  Fifth  Avenue 
Baptist  church.  From  a  struggling  organization  whose 
first  meetings  were  held  in  upstairs  halls  with  smoking 
oil  lamps  for  lights,  he  followed  this  inspired  organiza- 
tion through  the  varying  stages  of  its  upward  fortunes, 
and  enjoyed  the  blessed  privilege  of  seeing  it  installed 
in  the  magnificent  temple  it  now  occupies.  Young 
men  went  into  that  church  with  young  Deacon  Cam- 
mack,  and  they  grew  old  with  him,  day  by  day,  Sunday 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  159 

by  Sunday,   witnessing  his  never-failing   devotion,  his 
never-shaken  faith,  his  unfaltering  trust. 

It  is  because  such  records  are  so  few  that  they 
are  noteworthy,  and  it  is  because  of  the  life  that  made 
this  record  that  John  Henry  Cammack's  memory  as 
a  citizen,  a  churchman,  a  father  and  a  husband  will  be 
cherished  as  long  as  any  of  those  live  who  have  been 
touched  by  its  elevating  influence. 


160        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


THE  FINAL  SERVICE 

Herald-Dispatch,   Sunday,  May  9. 

' '  Beloved,  farewell !  We  will  meet  in  the  new 
morning ! ' ' 

It  was  with  these  words  that  Dr.  Matthew  L.  Wood, 
over  come  by  his  own  emotions  and  forced  to  close,  end- 
ed his  discourse  over  the  remains  of  John  Henry  Cam- 
mack.  It  was  a  beautiful  and  fitting  eulogy  which  he 
pronounced  at  the  funeral  of  this,  his  friend  and  coun- 
selor, held  Saturday  afternoon  at  four  o'clock  at  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Baptist  church.  He  explained  at  the 
outset  that  it  was  his  duty  as  pastor  of  the  church  which 
made  it  necessary  for  him  to  occupy  the  pulpit  on  this 
occasion  instead  of  sitting,  according  to  the  promptings 
of  his  heart,  in  the  front  pew  beside  the  sons  of  the  dead 
man.  And  the  grief  which  he  felt  at  the  taking  away 
of  ]\fr.  Cammack  was,  in  a  large  measure,  reflected  in 
the  hearts  of  the  hundreds  of  people  gathered  for  the 
final  tribute. 

The  altar  of  the  beautiful  temple  in  the  building 
of  which  Mr.  Cammack  had  a  part,  was  literally  banked 
with  flowers  which  testified  to  the  love  of  the  many 
senders  for  Mr.   Cammack. 

The  mourning  friends  were  shown  to  their  places 
in  the  pews  by  the  deacons  of  the  church,  of  whom  the 
decedent  was  one  for  fifty  years. 


I 


PRIVATE   JOHN  HENRY   CAMMACK  161 

Preceding  the  body  into  the  church  came  the  hon- 
orary pall  bearers,  members  of  Garnett  Camp,  United 
Confederate  Veterans,  of  which  Mr.  Cammack  was  com- 
mander for  fifteen  years.  There  was  almost  a  one 
hundred  per  cent  attendance  on  the  part  of  the  old 
soldiers,  now  too  feeble  to  take  other  than  an  honorary 
part  in  the  laying  away  of  their  comrades. 

Next  came  the  active  pall  bearers,  members  of  the 
Sunday  school  class  which  Mr.  Cammack  taught  for 
twenty  years. 

Huntington  Chapter  No.  150,  and  Jackson-Lee 
Chapter,  U.  D.  C.  occupied  spaces  reserved  for  them. 
Each  chapter  came  as  a  body. 

Mrs.  J.  Harold  Ferguson  was  at  the  organ  and  as 
the  funeral  party  entered  she  played  "Come  Ye  Dis- 
consolate. ' ' 

The  opening  prayer  was  offered  by  Dr.  S.  Roger 
Tyler,  rector  of  Trinity  Episcopal  church. 

The  songs  were  rendered  by  a  quartette  composed 
of  Mrs.  C.  E.  Haworth,  Mrs.  Carrie  S.  CoUard,  Randall 
Reynolds  and  J.  R.  Marcum  The  opening  song  was 
** Sunset  and  Evening  Star." 

Dr.  Tyler's  prayer  followed  and  then  a  second 
song  "Home  of  the  Soul,"  and  the  reading  of  the  scrip- 
ture by  Dr.  Wood. 

OLD  COMRADE 'S  TRIBUTE 

Rev.  W.  J.  Cocke,  old  comrade-in-arms  and  friend 
of  many  years  standing,  then  spoke  words  of  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Cammack. 

"He  was  a  Christian"  he  said,  "and  that  means 
he  was  Christly — he  was  a  gentleman — he  had  run  his 


162        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

course  well.  "Comrades",  he  said,  turning  to  the  mem- 
bers of  Garnett  Camp,  "we  soon  shall  clasp  his  hand 
once  more  on  the  other  shore.  He  was  a  faithful  sol- 
dier of  his  country;  he  was  an  equally  faithful  soldier 
of  God.  We  should  feel  no  sorrow  for  him,  but  should 
rather  rejoice  that  he  has  gone  over  the  river  to  rest 
in  the  shade  of  the  trees." 

Following  his  remarks  he  offered  prayer  for  the 
long  continuation  of  the  influence  of  the  life  of  Deacon 
Cammack. 

Then  the  quartette  sang,  "Lead  Me  Gently",  after 
which  Dr.  Wood  took  his  place  and  began  speaking. 

First  expressing  the  grief  which  prompted  him 
to  be  a  mourner,  rather  than  a  speaker,  he  then  referred 
to  an  early  Christian  whose  name  was  Joseph,  but  who 
was  surnamed  by  his  brethern,  Barnabus,  or  the  son  of 
consolation — and  who  occupied  a  place,  in  proportion, 
much  like  that  accorded  to  the  spirit  of  God — that  of 
comforter  and  helper,  and  of  whom  it  was  said  he  was 
a  good  man,  full  of  faith  and  the  spirit,  and  much  people 
through  him  were  led  to  the  Lord." 

To  this  man  Dr.  Wood  likened  the  subject  of  his 
eulogy,  carrying  the  comparison  further  by  saying  that 
like  his  scriptural  prototype,  Mr.  Cammack  went  about 
doing  good. 

"To  speak  of  his  life  in  that  inner  circle,  wherein 
he  was  best  known  and  most  loved,"  said  Dr.  Wood, 
"It  may  be  said  that  for  more  than  a  half  century  of 
wedded  life  he  was  a  devoted  lover:  as  tender  and  soli- 
citous in  the  latter  years  as  he  was  when  as  a  young 
and  gallant,  though  warworn  soldier  he  led  his  bride  to 
the  altar. 


PRIVATE   JOHN   HENRY   CAMMACK  163 

"In  his  broader  intercourse  he  was  a  courtly  gen- 
tleman, who  carried  himself  with  the  unselfish  dignity 
of  a  royal  prince.  He  was  never  happier  than  when 
he  could  stretch  forth  his  hand  to  help  another.  And 
though  I  fear  that  in  this  modern  age  most  of  us  are 
too  busy  for  such  things,  he  represented  a  type  of 
Christian  gentleman  which  this  world  needs  and  will 
always  appreciate  as  one  of  his  greatest  assets. 

' '  He  was  a  brave  soldier,  who  enlisted  at  seventeen 
and  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  southern  battle  flag  to 
Appomattox.  His  record  as  a  soldier  was  without  a 
stain.  And,  coming  back  from  the  war  he  faced  life 
with  a  courage  just  as  great  as  that  which  he  evinced 
in  war. 

"Veterans",  he  said  "turning  to  the  little  group 
of  gray  haired  men  in  the  pews  reserved  for  Camp 
Garnett,  "as  I  talked  to  him  recently  he  said": 

"  'Say  to  the  veterans  that  I  loved  them  and  that 
my  sincere  wish  for  every  one  of  them  is  that  he  shall 
be  a  true  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ," 

"Don't  disappoint  him.  You  loved  him.  Follow 
his  example. 

"He  was  devoted  to  Christ — and  because  it  repre- 
sented to  him  the  ideals  and  the  ministry  of  Christ  he 
was  devoted  to  this  church.  He  loved  this  church.  He 
remembered  it  in  his  prayers.  His  hands  were  always 
busy  with  its  tasks.  He  was  a  Christian  for  more  than 
fifty  years — a  deacon  for  more  than  fifty  years.  He 
never  had  but  two  pastors.  One  of  them,  who  led  him 
to  Christ  and  baptized  him  and  ordained  him  as  deacon 


164        PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 

went  before  him — ah,  have  you  thought  of  the  fellow- 
ship between  them  now? 

"To  me  he  was  a  father  and  a  brother;  a  wise, 
and  faithful  and  sympathetic  co-worker. 

"Last  Tuesday  evening  some  of  us  had  the  rare 
privilege  of  talking  with  him  at  a  time  when  he  seemed 
to  have  gotten  a  glimpse  of  the  glory  of  God  as  it  lighted 
up  his  sunset  hour. 

"He  said — Friends  if  we  miss  God  we  miss  every- 
thing— if  we  have  God  we  have  everj^thing. " 

Here  the  voice  of  the  speaker  faltered  and  he  said : 
"I  can't  go  on." 

Looking  down  upon  the  casket  he  said: 

"Beloved,  good-bye,  we'll  meet  in  the  new  morn- 
ing." 

There  were  more  than  fifty  automobiles  in  the 
procession  which  followed  the  remains  of  this  honored 
man  to  the  grave  in  Spring  Hill  cemeterJ^  There,  as 
his  body  was  committed  to  the  earth,  the  Rev.  John  K. 
Hitner,  chaplain  of  Garnett  Camp,  offered  prayer. 


IN   MEMORIAM 

CAMP  GARNETT  No.  902,  U.  C.  V.— OUR  COiAIRADE  AND 
LATE  COIVIMANDER  JOHN  HENRY  CAIVDIACK. 

John  Henry  Cammack  has  gone  along  the  path 
from  which  there  is  no  turning  back,  and  the  world  is 
better  because  he  lived  in  it.  Throughout  a  long  life 
he  has  been  for  each  succeeding  generation,  a  shining 
example:  his  courage  and  his  gentleness  have  been 
but  the  visible  evidence  of  an  unfaltering  faith  in  the 
all  powerful  divinity  and  inherent  faith  in  the  future, 
"beyond  this  place  of  wrath  and  tears." 

Comrade  Cammack 's  devotion  to  his  church  was 
sincere  and  constant ;  being  ever  among  the  first  in  ser- 
vice, in  prayer  and  in  alms.  His  citizenship  has  been 
marked  by  that  integrity  which  directed  all  his  doings 
in,  life,  and  he  has  left  behind  him  a  memory  which 
will  be  cherished  by  his  comrades  and  fellowmen,  who 
have  accorded  him  love  and  profound  respect. 

It  was,  however,  in  his  family  life  that  the  true 
beauty  of  his  character  shone ;  the  atmosphere  of  his 
home  was  a  benediction  and  we  who  have  been  privileg- 
ed to  call  ourselves  his  comrades,  have  realized  that  he 
was  the  soul  of  that  home ;  at  once  the  spirit  of  peace 
and  the  tower  of  strength — that  rare  combination  which 
can  come  only  from  a  complete  self  lessness  and  a  deep 
rooted  religious  belief. 

He  has  left  to  his  good  wife  a  memory  of  a  life 
without  fear,  and  without  reproach;  to  his  children  a 
heritage  more  precious  than  gold;  to  his  comrades  of 
Camp  Garnett  a  record  of  fixedness  of  purpose,  fidelity 
to  duty,  unfaltering  courage,  and  marked  devotion  to 
the  principles  for  which  our  organization  stands. 
"After  life's  fitful  fever 
Our  Comrade  sleeps  well." 
C.  L.  THOMPSON, 
J.  N.  POTTS, 
JOHN  K.  HITNER. 


